


to all of you i've loved before

by dorkito



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, High School AU, Inspired by To All The Boys I've Loved Before, M/M, probs will be cheesy af, seongwoo is a disaster, soft jock daniel, the only one with a brain is minhyun, there will be some underage drinking so warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-10 12:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 76,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20527748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkito/pseuds/dorkito
Summary: Ong Seongwoo was never all about the bold confessing – rather, he left the cheesy and grand gestures to the meatheads in his class while he tried to focus on getting through high school with as minimal psychological damage as possible.Although crushing on people was inevitable, Seongwoo came up with a genius plan of how to deal with them: he seals each crush in a letter and moves on.He’s thriving, honestly – until the day God decides to fuck with his life and all the letters get out.Five letters, five people, and possibly only one solution in a form of the school’s all-golden-boy, Kang freaking Daniel.And Seongwoo might be eventuallythatdesperate to just go and fucking grab it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> heyoo people  
this was written before the whole ongniel drama and i know a lot of people are still having mixed feelings, but i hope this fic will cheer you up whatever you're feeling right now^^
> 
> this is my first fic ever to be posted so i'm kinda nervous but please do enjoy!  
and support our ongniel and wanna one forever <3

Seongwoo doesn’t have a good day.

“Ong Seongwoo,” his PE teacher clicks his tongue sadly. “You just won’t learn it, will you? This is how you have to hold the racquet… you have to try harder...”

Scratch that. Seongwoo’s having a shit day.

“I’m trying my best, seonsaegnim,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. “It’s just not physiologically possible for me to---”

“Nonsense,” the teacher says. “All you have to do is train hard and not be a lazy bum. Look at Kang Daniel,” the teacher continues and points at a tall junior running track. “He was like you his freshman year and now he’s the captain of the football team. Work like him and you’ll get there.”

Seongwoo sneers. Yeah, maybe in an alternative universe he could gain 1/5 of the muscles Kang Daniel is rocking. The guy runs like no joke, jumping over the obstacles, as if he was just skipping over flowers on meadows. And fucking hell, he doesn’t even seem to sweat that much – his forehead glistens a bit, but that’s like, it.

Fucking injustice, if you ask Seongwoo.

“So, what do you say?” the teacher asks. “Should I sign you up for extra muscle training with--”

“Whoa, that _so_ won’t be necessary,” Seongwoo cuts him off, saving himself the future torture. Extra lessons of puking his entrails over a press bench? Yeah, _right_, sign him up for that. “I’ll train at home. By myself. Yeah.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

Oh, he’s sure.

When Seongwoo finally gets to the changing room, he heaves a sigh of relief. That was close.

“What were you running from?” Hwang Minhyun, his best friend, appears out of nowhere, a towel over his head. He’s apparently sweating buckets and Seongwoo can very much relate.

“From badminton,” Seongwoo sighs. “The teacher’s been nagging me about the extras again.”

“You must be a really desperate case,” Minhyun thinks out loud. “He’s offering them only to the people, who can’t go up five stairs without collapsing.”

“Are you implying something, Hwang?”

“That’s what you said,” he replies and Seongwoo slaps his shoulder.

The changing room floods with the rest of their class and Seongwoo is fortunately spared of another conversation regarding his weak stamina. His excuses like “my looks are too heavy for me to carry” is getting old now.

“Hey, Ong,” one guy yells at him. He’s short with a passably good looking face, but Seongwoo sees the ugly twist his mouth and eyebrows are sporting. Jerk face. “Saw your moves at the badminton court. Olympics are calling.”

A few guys cackle and applaud. Minhyun only glances over at Seongwoo with a clear message: _Seongwoo, don’t_ –

“Yeah, I know,” Seongwoo replies lightly. “They called for you too, you know. You’re the dark horse for the jackass of the year discipline.”

The guy grins, menace written all over his face, and Seongwoo hears Minhyun sigh.

“You wanna get smacked—”

“Sure. If you reach me from down there—”

“What’s happening here?”

Seongwoo swiftly turns around and almost headbutts Kang Daniel right then and there.

“Woah,” Daniel laughs and steps back. “Sorry. You okay?”

“Just peachy,” Seongwoo replies.

Daniel nods with a smile, bright and all-perfect like. Then he notices the fuming guy behind Seongwoo and frowns. “Were you two about to fight?”

“No,” the guy replies at the same time Seongwoo says “yes”.

“We don’t have time for this,” Daniel interrupts them and nods at the dude. “Coach is looking for us. Move it.”

The jerk face mumbles something obscene and books it, shoving Seongwoo hard into the lockers. “Don’t think it’s over, sucker.”

“I’m shaking,” Seongwoo says and is about to flip him off, when his hand is caught in mid-air and forced to his side. Seongwoo huffs and wriggles out of Kang Daniel’s hold. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“World peace,” Daniel only says and folds his arms. Seongwoo notices he’s wearing the school’s sports jersey, which seems to be too small for his broad frame. It’s tight in all the right places. Seongwoo frowns. Wrong places. Ugh. Whatever. Daniel catches his stare and laughs a little. “A friend accidently took my jersey.”

“Whatever,” Seongwoo just says. “I was wondering whether you were getting bigger too fast or our school board _finally_ stopped receiving money to sponsor football.”

Daniel grins and Seongwoo shrugs. “I was betting on the growth spurt.”

Daniel cackles. “I think it would be very anticlimactic for my wardrobe, if I hit a second puberty.”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrows. _What the hell are you saying, you are still a pubescent._

Daniel scratches the nape of his neck and glances towards the door, looking after the retreating back of the jerk face. Suddenly a group of people appears at the end of the hallway giggling and Daniel immediately ducks back in the changing room. Seongwoo watches him in amusement as the people pass by, whispering “Kang Daniel-sunbae may be already in class”, eventually disappearing as they turn the corner.

Daniel carefully straightens and Seongwoo scoffs. “Hiding from your fan club?”

Daniel’s face is guarded when he sheepishly answers. “It’s not a fan club. And I wouldn’t say hiding…but they can be sometimes…”

Seongwoo doesn’t really need him to finish. Everyone at school knew the infamous Daniel fan club. What is it like to be this worshipped and bordering stalked though will forever remain a mystery to Seongwoo.

“Well, anyways,” Daniel smiles at him. “Don’t provoke people just for the laugh. Someday you’ll get in trouble, hyung.”

“_Hyung_?” Seongwoo snorts. Kang Daniel is really going out of his way to _lecture_ him? The audacity. “That’s _sunbae_ for you, Kang.”

“Sorry,” Daniel corrects himself, obviously slightly flustered. “Sunbae.”

The bell rings and Seongwoo picks up his towel. “I’m going to change. Bye.”

Daniel only shrugs and waves him goodbye before disappearing in the hallway catching up with his teammates.

Minhyun raises his eyebrow, when Seongwoo settles next to him on the bench and starts taking off his tennis shoes. “Did you really have to be so prickly? He was trying to break up the fight.”

“Maybe,” Seongwoo says. “But I just don’t like how he goes around and thinks that his presence only is enough for people to stop whatever they’re doing. Be it a fight or picking their nose.”

“Have you ever stopped picking your nose, when Kang Daniel was near?”

“I don’t pick my nose, fucker,” Seongwoo says and pulls on his uniform shirt. “That was an example.”

“Whatever,” Minhyun deadpans. “But you can’t really blame him. He has the power.”

Seongwoo zips up his pants and throws his shoes into a plastic bag. “Oh, the power,” he theatrically sighs. “You mean because he’s a captain of the football team or whatever?”

“Yeah, that too. But he’s also the star athlete, the most popular guy at school _and_ the king of the last spring fling—”

“I say – whatever,” Seongwoo scoffs. He finishes changing and closes the locker shut with a loud bang. Minhyun startles and frowns.

“Yah. Wait for me, Ong.”

“Sure thing. You always take decades in here.”

“I have to _fold_ my gym clothes. You’re like a pig, throwing it all in one bundle.”

“No, Nyeon, I’m not a pig, I’m just – how do you say it? Normal.”

“Shut up.” Minhyun flips him off. “Why are you so cold around Daniel anyway? You hate him or what?”

“It’s not that I hate him or don’t like him. I have like zero relationship with him,” Seongwoo says. “It’s just… the all “high and mighty” aura he has. Like, did you see it, just now? The way he said ‘_what’s happening here’_? Like a mob boss.”

“Don’t be like that,” Minhyun laughs. “You know he’s kind. Didn’t he help you with the theatre props back in sophomore year? To be honest I’d expect he would be an arrogant prick, but he’s not – he’s like the embodiment of tooth-aching sweetness.”

Seongwoo snorts again but can’t argue – he knows too damn well it was true.

Because if it weren’t, Kang Daniel wouldn’t have been the third recipient of one of his cringey and awkward love letters.

The letters. Seongwoo must admit that he’s not really proud of them. However, it was the only thing that his drama-queen-like thirteen-year-old self could come up with in his room covered in anime posters when he realized what an unrequited love was.

Seongwoo doesn’t like crushing on people – it’s always uncomfortable, the way he feels conscious of all his movements or of all the shit his big mouth rambles. The way he takes fifteen more minutes on his hair before going to school, or the way he takes the longer routes just to walk with them. He knows that he always unconsciously follows them with his eyes over and over, remembering the slope of their nose or judging their clothes; knows the feeling of his heart stuttering when they look his way.

Briefly – Seongwoo could go on without crushing on anyone, thank you very much.

Alas, he’s just a poor human being and not immune to feelings, most the pity.

It always went like this:

Seongwoo gets a crush. Seongwoo moons over the crush (for aesthetic purposes). Seongwoo gets annoyed by his love-sick ass. Seongwoo writes a love letter. Writes all the things he hates about them. Writes the things he likes/ed about them. He seals the letter along with his feelings in an envelope. He moves on.

The letter thing was cool when he started. Not so cool by the time he wrote the fifth letter.

Seongwoo wouldn’t admit it to anyone but he kind of knows he’s a hopeless romantic. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he wrote the letters in the first place. To have an outlet. Watching rom-coms couldn’t unfortunately take care of all his mushiness.

He keeps the letters deep, _deep_, inside one of the pockets of his pants. Pants he got from his dad for his last birthday, ugly as fuck, but Seongwoo didn’t have the heart to throw them away. Cargo pants – like, really? Do you want your son to be ostracized by the heartless vultures aka his schoolmates, dad?

Seongwoo had the letters first in a book he never opened (something about the economic systems which was also given to him by his dad in hopes it would make him interested in management) (the result: it didn’t). Seongwoo eventually decided to change the hiding place, when his uncle Jisung at whose place Seongwoo’s staying for the time being, asked him if he could borrow the boring-ass book once in a while.

Seongwoo gladly gave him the book to keep. (“Seogwoo-yah, are you sure? It might take me decades until I read it! Really you won’t mind? Oh, okay!”)

Seongwoo didn’t have the heart to tell his uncle he would eventually use the book as a footrest, either.

Come to think of it, Seongwoo doesn’t have the heart to do a lot of things.

Confessing being only one of the many.

“Jisung-hyung, dear, I’m home,” Seongwoo calls into the apartment when he gets home. He takes off his shoes and sing-songs. “Your favourite nepheeeew!”

“Seongwoo-yah, you’re my only nephew,” his uncle replies. Yoon Jisung was Seongwoo’s uncle, but it felt more like he was an older brother. There wasn’t really an option _but_ to be close – Seongwoo’s dad travelled a lot because of work, so Jisung’s always taken care of him since he was little.

Jisung was younger brother of Seongwoo’s late mother but has become Seongwoo’s guardian, because his dad has been managing business in Australia since Seongwoo’s freshman year. Seongwoo thinks often if Jisung regrets his life choices by agreeing to take him in – Seongwoo (being a teenager and a little shit on top of that) was quite handful sometimes.

Fortunately, Seongwoo was too much of a coward to ask, so they are okay. For the time being.

“So?” Seongwoo throws himself at the dining table and picks up an apple from the fruit basket. “Can’t I be your favourite nephew?”

“Smarty-pants,” Jisung snorts and throws an apron at him. “Come and help me with dinner.”

Seongwoo catches it and makes a face. “You know I can’t cook for shit.”

“Language,” Jisung says sharply with a click of his tongue.

“You know I can’t cook for _shite_.”

“That’s _not_ what I meant,” Jisung says and shoves his shoulder, lovingly of course. He reaches out for a knife and holds it tip-down for Seongwoo to take. “Your dad’s going to think you got that from me and kill me, asshole.”

“For picking up bad language from _you_?” Seongwoo laughs as he grabs the knife and starts chopping the mushrooms. “You know he loves you too much for that. And we can always blame the school system.”

“That’s undeniably true,” Jisung laughs and boils down the water to make some ramyeon. “Your dad called by the way. Want me to call him back now?”

Seongwoo pauses before answering, a little guilty. “Nah, it can wait.”

“Okay. How’s school?”

“Jerk faces everywhere. Minhyunie being an ungrateful frenemy. And I’m failing PE. Same old.”

“Good to hear,” Jisung says and stirs the noodles in the pot.

“How about a movie night?” Seongwoo throws the mushrooms in the pot and wipes his hands into Jisung’s sweater.

“Hey, there’s a perfectly clean towel over there. And sounds good.” Jisung snorts and places some more vegetables in front of Seongwoo. “Cut.”

“Wait a minute,” Seongwoo mumbles and frowns. “Yah! That’s my sweater!”

“Joke’s on you then,” Jisung replies.

“Stop stealing my clothes, hyung,” Seongwoo whines and throws his arms in the air. “Are you trying to act like my little sister or what?”

“I like your clothes,” Jisung defends himself and shrugs. “It’s not like I’m mistreating them.”

“You’re _wearing_ them,” Seongwoo argues. “That’s a mistreatment in a sense.”

“Brat.”

Seongwoo laughs and hangs on his uncle’s arm. “Can we watch Spirited Away then? You know, to assuage me.”

Jisung shakes him off. Seongwoo can’t believe he would do that – Seongwoo’s pretty damn cute when he’s trying. It always worked on his dad. Did Jisung grow immune to his charm? Unacceptable and _very_ inconvenient. How is Seongwoo supposed to survive in this environment without his persuading skills?

“I don’t need to assuage you,” Jisung deadpans. “I’m the…uh. You know. The master of this house.”

Seongwoo pouts. “Hyyyuuuung.”

Jisung shoves his face away. “Okay. Whatever.”

Seongwoo grins and resumes in cutting the ingredients into tiny pieces.

He still got the charms it seems. Seongwoo laughs as he listens to Jisung’s “stupid whiny brat” monologue.

Yup, _Seongwoo still has it_.

Senior year is nothing but stressful. The pressure about his “future” and the “meaning of life” is following Seongwoo everywhere he goes – teachers pop up from nowhere to “talk about his choice of path” and ladies in the cafeteria give him extra vegetables so he could “prepare well for his college entrance exams”. He constantly receives looks of awe mixed with hints of pity when he’s walking down the hallways, freshmen shyly addressing him as “Ong-sunbaenim”. He gets comfort pats when the results of mock tests are put up and he’s sporting the place in the lower region of the paper, as if they already know Seongwoo won’t have a chance once he steps into the real world.

“You know,” Seongwoo says looking at his name at the bottom of the paper. “It’s not that bad.”

“What do you mean?” Minhyun deadpans. His face is craned towards the top where he (of course) took the first place. “Didn’t your name drop like two ranks? You’ve almost scored the last—”

“I said not ‘_that’_ bad,” Seongwoo replies.

“How much worse it could get?”

“You have to find something positive about the whole situation, Nyeon-ah,” Seongwoo says and starts walking towards their classroom. “That’s how I live my life.”

“What’s positive about your results then?”

“Well,” Seongwoo mumbles. “No one’s head is on fire?”

“I guess that counts for something.” Minhyun laughs and shrugs. “It’s just a mock exam. You’ll do better.”

“Look! You’re getting the hang of it.”

Seongwoo throws his arm around Minhyun’s shoulders securing him in a head lock. “How about we ditch class and go for ice cream?”

“You just saw your results being at the very rock bottom and you want to ditch class? Are you mental?”

“Well, it’s not like they will change _now_.”

“Ong, don’t miss classes,” Minhyun says and gives his head a smack, wriggling out of his hold.

“Ouch! That was so not necessary, Hwang.”

“You’ll thank me one day.” Minhyun shrugs. He takes out his timetable ignoring Seongwoo’s whines and frowns. “Ong, but I think I will have to miss this class—”

“The hell? You just smacked me and now you are the one who can ditch—”

“I’m not _ditching_,” Minhyun hisses. “I have to go to the teachers’ office – Choi-seongsaenim wanted to go through my extracurriculars I’m taking this semester, because they can’t fit in in my—”

Man, Minhyun was taking this whole school business way too seriously. Seongwoo’s only extracurriculars is newspaper and that’s only because the group meets once a week and he’s taking care of the poetry section, which is given only a half of the page at the very end.

“Goodness heaven.” Seongwoo feigns outrage. “Minhyun-ah, you have so many extracurriculars that you can’t fit them in your timetable? You’re a classified _nerd_.”

“Fuck off,” Minhyun only says as he shoves the timetable back into his backpack. “See you and Sungwoon later at lunch, yeah?”

“Aye, aye,” Seongwoo waves him off and Minhyun dashes through the corridor in the opposite direction. _Dashes_. Nerd.

Seongwoo resumes in his walk to class. Maybe he should take an example from Minhyun. Try to study and take up some extracurriculars so his uni application won’t be pristine white. Seongwoo sighs. It’s so hard to be responsible though.

He takes out his phone and scrolls through the timeline on instagram. There’s a photo of Daehwi and Jinyoung in front of a vintage shop in Japan. They’re both wearing some kind of neon monstrosity, but Seongwoo taps ‘like’ anyway. The young brats are on holidays and Seongwoo is forced to learn the basics of racquet holding in badminton? What is _up_ with universe?

Another photo is from Sungwoon – Minhyun’s boyfriend. The photo is showing only half of Sungwoon’s face because the rest of the photo is taken up by the large stone fountain somewhere in the middle of the woods.

_Went hiking with the bae_. Heart emoji.

Seongwoo stares at it for a few seconds, hesitating, before he likes it. Sungwoon looks nice – he has a beanie and a large hoodie, looking way to comfy and not sweaty at all from the hiking.

Seongwoo’s so engrossed in the staring he doesn’t notice he’s already walked past his classroom. He’s a fucking moron that’s what he is. He shoves his phone into the pocket of his trousers and begins speed-walking back, when suddenly something – no, _someone_ – bursts from the classroom Seongwoo’s currently in front of and knocks him off his feet.

“Kang, I told you that you won’t catch it –”

Seongwoo has like half a second to comprehend what’s going on before he’s hit with something hard in his fucking face and his vision blurs.

“_What the fuck_—”

“Oh my God! You okay? Sunbae, I’m so sorry, are you—”

Someone’s cradling his face and Seongwoo shoves the hands away. “Shit, what—”

“You fucking moron! I told you to pass me the book—” the person who tackled him yells at someone. “Jihoon-ah, you—”

“Oppa! Oppa, do you want me to help you with Ong-sunbae?”¨

“No, hyung, let me!”

Seongwoo’s eyesight is finally regained, but he feels something sticky around his nose. Seongwoo frowns and then immediately regrets it when he finds out it hurts.

“Shit, you’re bleeding—”

Seongwoo blinks up and can’t help but sigh. Of course, golden boy Kang Daniel has to be the one who smashes him into the ground and witnesses his bloody pulp of a nose. There are also some people watching, but Seongwoo soon realizes that they’re not observing his messed up nose, but more like the guy who’s responsible for why he’s down in the first place.

Ugh. Some people’s priorities. He’s _bleeding_ here.

Kang Daniel kindly refuses their help though, kneeling fully by Seongwoo’s side.

“Come on up, I’ll take you to the infirmary,” Daniel says and gently hoists him up on his feet. Seongwoo glances at the ground, when his foot nudges something. A textbook on Korean History. He got whacked by a textbook on _Korean History_. He’s damn lucky they didn’t kill him with it. Daniel starts to dig through his pockets and eventually takes out something pale pink. “Here’s a handkerchief, press it to –”

“Okay, okay,” Seongwoo replies feebly and accepts it. It has a weird texture and Seongwoo almost laughs out loud, because it’s a fucking cloth tissue and Seongwoo can’t help but find it hilarious. How much more extra can you get, Kang Daniel?

“You won’t mind?” Seongwoo gestures to the handkerchief. “I’ll get it all bloodied.”

Daniel looks at him as if he was crazy. “You’re bleeding. I could care less about the tissue.” Seongwoo carefully inspects it. It’s kind of cute that it is this lovely shade of pink. Daniel scratches his nape. “And don’t worry, um, it’s not used.”

“Alright.”

“Come on.” Daniel takes him by the elbow and turns him into the direction of the nurse’s office. “Jihoon-ah!” he yells over his shoulder. “Tell the teacher I’ll be right back.”

“You don’t have to—” Seongwoo starts and tries to pry his elbow from Daniel’s hold, but Daniel only smiles and resists Seongwoo’s attempt to free himself.

“Don’t. Keep your head tilted back – yeah, like that. I’ll guide you, sunbae.”

“You stubborn brat,” Seongwoo only mumbles, but eventually submits. “If I bump into something, you’re a dead meat.”

“Don’t give me ideas,” is Daniel’s only reply.

They go in silence. The classes already begun, so the only thing audible are their footsteps and Daniel’s occasional “here, carefully” and “slowly” or “aren’t you dizzy?”.

Daniel’s hand is still gently holding his elbow, guiding him with a little nudge here and there and Seongwoo soon gets in sync with Daniel’s steps so he wouldn’t trip and die.

“Am I going too fast?” Daniel asks quietly and slows down a notch.

“No, it’s okay—”

They both jump when someone suddenly whisper-yells after them. “Seongwoo?!”

Seongwoo’s head is still tilted and the handkerchief is kind of obscuring his eyes so he doesn’t really see anything besides the lights on the ceiling. He hears quick footsteps of someone running though, but it takes him ten more seconds to match the voice to a face.

“Sungwoon?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Sungwoon says and it sounds like he’s out of breath.

“He’s your friend?” Daniel asks, his hand still on Seongwoo’s arm.

“Yeah,” Seongwoo manages to say and presses the handkerchief to his nose more firmly.

“What the hell _happened_?” Sungwoon demands. “Did you…” There’s a beat of silence, before Sungwoon speaks again, his voice suddenly ice cold. “Did you fight? Did you do this to him?”

The last question is directed at Daniel and Seongwoo quickly waves his hand. “No, we didn’t fight. It was an accident, I got hit by a Korean History textbook.”

“What? _How_?”

“It was kinda my fault,” Daniel says apologetically. “We were—”

“Damn it, look at him, how could you—”

“Woon, it’s okay,” Seongwoo says and tries to find the other’s shoulder, but gives up when he hits Sungwoon in the cheek. “Sorry about that – I’m fine. Daniel was taking me to the nurse actually.”

“I’ll take care of him, Daniel,” Sungwoon decides and Seongwoo can feel how Sungwoon’s soft hands force Daniel’s to release their hold. It’s quite interesting the difference between them: Daniel’s skin was more on the rough side and Seongwoo could feel all his callouses; Sungwoon’s hands are smooth and seem like touch of flower petals.

“You sure, sunbae?” Daniel sounds hesitant and Seongwoo can see from the corner of his eye how he shifts his weight from left to right. “I mean—”

“Just let him, Kang,” Seongwoo interrupts him. “Sungwoon won’t let me die somewhere. Hopefully.”

“I guess I can work with hopefully,” Daniel laughs and pats Seongwoo’s forearm. “Let me know if you need anything. And I’m really sorry about all this.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you wanted to.”

“Yeah…alright then. See you around?”

Daniel says bye to Sungwoon and then Seongwoo hears the younger’s retreating steps. Seongwoo adjusts the cloth still pressed to his nose.

The handkerchief. Kang Daniel’s cloth handkerchief.

“So, Ong—” Sungwoon starts, but Seongwoo curses.

“Wait, _shit_.” Seongwoo turns into the direction of the sound of fading footsteps. “Kang! Kang, what about your tissue?”

“Keep it!” Daniel’s cheerful voice echoes through the hallway and Seongwoo sighs. Kang Daniel’s handkerchief? Seongwoo’s sure that if he put it up on ebay, Kang Daniel’s fan club would buy it right away. Not that Seongwoo’s going to do it. Maybe when he’s desperate enough for money. Maybe then.

“Are you okay?” Sungwoon snaps him out of his thoughts. “You really didn’t fight with Kang Daniel?”

Seongwoo finds this assumption so damn ridiculous that he makes the biggest mistake and laughs – the pain that follows is fucking unbearable. “God, fuck, my nose,” he whines.

Sungwoon guides him through one more hallway and they finally arrive to the nurse. She gives them earful about fighting your classmates and then a lecture on how this generation has to solve everything through violence, before she finally leaves for some antiseptic and band aids.

“I didn’t fight Kang Daniel for Christ’s sake,” Seongwoo manages to say through the tissue, when Sungwoon sits across from him with this judging face. “It’s Kang Daniel, for God’s sake. Kang Daniel _never_ fights.”

“Yeah – but you have a talent to piss off almost anyone—”

“God, even if I did fight Kang Daniel, do you think my nose would be the only thing bloodied?”

“True.”

“Well, you didn’t have to agree with me so quickly,” Seongwoo mumbles and pouts.

“So, you were hit by a textbook? Who threw it?”

“Life,” Seongwoo says and Sungwoon frowns.

“Cut the bullshit.” Sungwoon never liked Seongwoo’s dramatic ass.

“I don’t know. A friend of Daniel’s, I guess.”

“Who goes around and throws Korean History books at their friends?”

“How would I know?” Seongwoo shrugs. “Jocks?”

Their exchange is interrupted when another student comes in, supported by two people. “Sprained ankle,” the boy on the left huffs. “Where’s the nurse?”

“Wow, dude, what happened to you?” the boy on the right asks. “Your face is a bloody mess.”

“Thanks,” Seongwoo deadpans.

“Were you in a fight?”

“Just against the Korean heritage,” Seongwoo answers and Sungwoon laughs. His laugh is high-pitched and sounds like chiming of jingle bells.

Nurse hurries over. Seongwoo listens to Lecture 2.0 about their rotten upbringing, as the three boys stand awkwardly not knowing really what to do with their injured friend in the middle. The nurse finally turns to Seongwoo and shoves a bottle and some band aids into his hands. “Here, I have to take care of the ankle. Can you manage?”

Seongwoo nods and the nurse along with the three guys disappear behind one of the curtains on the opposite side of the infirmary.

“Give it to me. I’ll do it,” Sungwoon says and walks over to Seongwoo.

Seongwoo bites his lip and wordlessly passes the stuff to Sungwoon.

“Put away the tissue…”

Seongwoo does as he’s told and sits completely still. Sungwoon works carefully, gently wiping the blood and applying the disinfection. When Seongwoo hisses in pain, Sungwoon stops and waits for him to get used to it before resuming in the treatment. Seongwoo stares somewhere over Sungwoon’s shoulder and counts the smudges and tries not to think about anything at all.

“There…you’re done,” Sungwoon finally says and steps away. “Hm, you look maybe even cooler like this. Like a macho leader of a gang.”

“Do I now?” Seongwoo turns sideways to look at himself in the glass doors of a cabinet and grimaces. “Really, Sungwoon?”

“What? You like kittens, don’t you?”

Seongwoo sighs. The band aid is covered in a design of little faces of comic cats. Yeah. A macho guy.

“I’ll text Minhyunie,” Sungwoon says and takes out his phone. “He’ll be worried about you.”

“Yeah, right… Minhyun. Of course.” Seongwoo gets up slowly. He’s so much taller than Sungwoon, so when he looks at him it’s good that he knows Sungwoon can’t catch him. “Minhyun is actually at counselling right now. He won’t know that I didn’t make it to class... I don’t want to worry him.”

“Oh. But still, he should know. You’re his best friend.”

“Yeah.”

Seongwoo inhales. “Hey, Sungwoon, mind if I lay down a bit? I think the hit made much more impact than I realized—”

Sungwoon immediately looks up. “_What_?”

Seongwoo quickly smiles and waves his hands. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing – I just feel kinda dizzy. And I’m sleep-deprived. I could use a nap, while I’m here.”

“Really? Okay then – don’t overstretch it – lay down—”

He takes Seongwoo by the arm and helps him onto the bed. “Otherwise, you okay? Shouldn’t I go get the nurse—”

“No, I’m fine.” Seongwoo smiles. “You should go, though. Don’t you have Kwon-seonsaegnim for maths now? She’ll kill you for cutting her class.”

“Shit,” Sungwoon pales. “You’re right…” He throws an uneasy glance at Seongwoo as he grabs his bag. “You sure you don’t want me to stay?”

Seongwoo laughs a little. The irony is sometimes painful. “Nah. I’m fine. You talking would disturb my sleep.”

“Ungrateful bitch.” Sungwoon laughs. “Okay. See you at lunch?”

“Yup. Bye.”

Sungwoon leaves and Seongwoo shoves Kang Daniel’s cloth tissue into his trousers pocket.

He sighs and closes his eyes.

_I would kinda like if you stayed._

Minhyun is Seongwoo’s best friend.

_The_ best friend. Seongwoo would rather jump off a cliff rather than let anything hurt Hwang Minhyun. They’ve known each other since middle-school and although they bickered like crazy, Seongwoo can’t imagine how he would survive school without him.

That’s why it’s so damn ironic that Ha Sungwoon, his best friend’s precious other half, has happened to be the fifth – and so far the last – recipient of Seongwoo’s love letter.

The ironic part being that Seongwoo, against all his better judgement, hasn’t got over him yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who didn't get whacked by a textbook is a pro at living tbh
> 
> wow you've made it through the word vomit until the end! well done and i thank you so much for giving this fic a shot! as for the updates i'll decide based on the response this chapter will get *sweats profoundly*
> 
> this chapter is more to make you feel and see the relationships between all the characters and ong, so please let me down in the comments what you think so far, i'd be grateful!! and thank you once again for reading, uwu


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seongwoo's extracurricular makes an official appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first, a great thank you to everyone who liked the first chapter and came for the second!! (ノ・∀・)ノ  
second, even greater thanks to those who found some time to leave a comment and kudos <3 seriously, you are my life support 
> 
> so bc it seems people don't think this is crap (yet), here's the 2nd chapter - please enjoy!

Dear Ha Sungwoon,

It’s not fair that you had to transfer in junior year. You were in Seoul and you had a dream, but your family wanted you to give it up and move here – a small town, where everyone is somebody but at the same time where you can’t be anybody. It’s not fair you were forced to move just so you could appease your parents and it’s not fair you had to leave your friends just because you wanted to be something your parents were afraid would make you into nothing.

It’s not fair, and I feel guilty that I’m a little grateful for everything that.

Because if you had not moved, I wouldn’t have met you.

You wouldn’t have asked me about the directions to that old crook’s office and I wouldn’t have seen the lyrics written on your hand. I wouldn’t have got to know you. I wouldn’t have had the chance to fall for you.

It’s terrible, it’s cheesy, and goddamnit if I don’t know it. It was slow, but before I could do anything, it was too late – I looked at you and I knew that this was something totally out of my control.

But this is not supposed to be a confession. This is supposed to be me moving on.

I sound like a fucking drama-queen but that’s just me. You’ve never supported my theatrics, but you better get used to it.

You pretend you don’t get bothered when people are making fun of your height, but I know you care. You care hella lot about what people think of you. You try to beat them at everything and that makes you really competitive although there’s no need to prove anything. But that’s just who you are – you always feel the need to prove something we already _know_ you can do.

But I’ve fallen for you, knowing that. I don’t like competitive people, but somehow your competitiveness and your sense of holding onto your dream, makes me wonder if I should be like that too – achieve my dream despite life getting in the way. That’s what I like about you. One of the many things. You’re brave enough to go for what you want.

And you’re sooo short! It would be funny, if it weren’t cute. Damn you.

And I know you like Minhyun. And I know he likes you back, because he told me by the end of the junior’s year. And I love Minhyun with all my heart and it’s the reason why I’ll never tell you how I feel. But sometimes I can’t help but to think it’s unfair. Because I met you first. Because I noticed you first. Because I liked you first. 

Whether it’s fair or unfair, it doesn’t matter though, at least not anymore. With this letter I’m making an official statement. I’m getting over you. It’s the beginning of the senior year and I’m getting over you. Not now, but very soon. Because I have to.

For now yours, Ong Seongwoo

Crush on Ha Sungwoon started rather innocently.

He and Minhyun were in the school library, juniors with no plans for the day nor their future. Minhyun suggested studying for the upcoming mid-terms and Seongwoo – the good friend he was – went with him.

“How about ten more minutes and then we’ll go to the park,” Seongwoo pleaded. “I’m dying here.”

“We’ve been studying for half an hour,” Minhyun deadpanned. “Ong, strengthen your will. Don’t you want to go to college?”

“I don’t even know what department I should choose,” Seongwoo quietly whined. “How am I supposed to study then, when I don’t know?”

“Then study it all. It’ll be good for your application if they see you’re good at everything.”

“Why are you such a smartass?”

“I’m friends with you. You taught me well.”

“Smartass.”

They studied for another half an hour until Seongwoo got a cramp and gave up. He told Minhyun to study without him and decided to buy something sweet. To motivate himself and because he was craving something and because Minhyun unwisely let him use his card.

It should have been just another afternoon at school.

When Seongwoo finally arrived at the school cafeteria, there was a long queue. He cursed all the deities he knew and then resigned, walking to the end of the line while contemplating the unfairness of the universe.

“Excuse me,” a high voice suddenly cut through his line of brooding thoughts. “Could you please show me where the principal’s office is?”

Wow, poor fellow. Assuming that Seongwoo was the right person to be seen with near the principal’s office. Seongwoo knew too well where it was, yes; he spent a lot of time there his freshman year, but it sure wasn’t because principal was eager to see him. More like wanted to strangle him every time he showed up, saying _what did you do this time, Ong Seongwoo_. Being a model student? That was Minhyun’s area.

Seongwoo lazily looked sideways at the guy. There was nothing unusual about him really – he was short with light brown hair and full pink lips, light smooth skin and a piercing in his left ear. He had their school uniform on, but no backpack, only some papers and a binder.

“Transfer?” Seongwoo asked and laughed. “You couldn’t have picked a worse guy to see the principal with.”

The dude seemed a little confused when he asked: “Why’s that?”

Pure, innocent mind. Seongwoo should have really called Minhyun to take care of this business, since his friend was the newly elected class president, but he didn’t want to bother him now.

“Just saying.” Seongwoo waved his hand at him. “Come on, newbie, I’ll help you.”

“Don’t call me a newbie,” the dude only said and they set off.

“What’s your name?” Seongwoo asked and took out his phone to scroll through thousands of messages Minhyun sent him. _What’s taking you so long. Are you buying a house on my card._

Seongwoo only sent back _Our house;)_. Minhyun’s instant reply was _disgusting_.

Bitch.

“Ha Sungwoon,” the guy introduced himself. “I moved here a week ago. You?”

“Ong Seongwoo. And, oh. Welcome to our lovely neighbourhood then,” Seongwoo chirped. “There is nothing to do around here and also no gangs, so the life is pretty boring.”

“I’ve noticed unfortunately,” the transfer sighed. “I’m from Seoul.”

“_Really_?” Seongwoo remembers the way he whipped his head and felt his heart thump.

_Seoul_.

Seoul was his absolute _dream_ – the big city, bustling with energy, the city which was alive with music, with artists – the city with opportunities and built on dreams and different adventures. It was buzzing with life and Seongwoo – Seongwoo wanted to feel it.

He dreamt of going there always. Leaving this small town hole in the middle of nowhere and go – go beyond his boundaries and fly.

Seoul was a city. And, it was his future.

“How is it like?” he asked the newbie, trying to tone down his excitement to minimum.

And then – Ha Sungwoon started describing Seoul. His eyes lit up and his hands were flying around, telling Seongwoo everything – the places, the people, the possibilities.

“I wanted to be an idol, you know,” Sungwoon finally said and sighed. “But my family was against me being a trainee. They want me to study hard and then go to college and then take up the family business.”

He started fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve as if he realized he said more than he wanted – however, Seongwoo rather than being interested in watching him getting nervous all of a sudden, it was more the thing on the inside of his wrist that caught his attention; scribbles of a song. Or a poem.

_The little wind blows and flower petals flying / I’m not familiar with the way they’re falling / Little by little…_

“You…you write?”

“What?”

Sungwoon noticed his stare and blushed wild red. “Oh, um. It’s just this…”

Seongwoo felt something while reading it – maybe a little like an invader, but more like…it just made him feel _something_. His heart did this little pause, like stuttering.

“It’s really good,” Seongwoo said quietly. “It sounds… honest.”

Sungwoon carefully looked at him. “You…you think so?”

Seongwoo laughed. “I know so. Are those song lyrics?”

“Yeah…I just came up with it on the bus and I didn’t have any paper with me…aside from my admission forms and I don’t think principal would appreciate that.”

“I can assure you, he wouldn’t. He’s like an old dry pepper bell.”

Sungwoon laughed and it somehow sounded like melody of a song without words.

“Well, here we are,” Seongwoo announced. “The office.”

“Thanks,” Sungwoon beamed at him. “I hope we’ll see each other around.”

“Yeah. Sure. Bye.”

That was it. First, it was just admiration.

Then Minhyun got assigned to take care of the new student and the three of them started spending crap load of time together, be it class, lunch time, afternoons, study sessions…and Seongwoo caught himself noticing Sungwoon’s face, the words he was saying, the hand gestures and the way he pursed his lips when something was not going his way.

Then Minhyun and Sungwoon got together at the end of junior’s year and Seongwoo knew he was fucking screwed.

And that was when he wrote his fifth letter – sealing the feelings he had in an envelope, in words for no one else but him to read.

Well.

_Tried_ to seal them. But Seongwoo, the loser he is, can’t seem to be moving on anytime soon.

“_Oh my God_, what the hell happened to your nose?”

Seongwoo sighs and tries not to look too pitiful. It’s lunch time and Seongwoo after his quick (read: long) nap in the infirmary finally dragged his ass out of there to have some food and meet his friends. Minhyun and Sungwoon were sitting opposite each other, hands intertwined over the table, laughing at a joke Seongwoo didn’t hear. When he approached them though with his own lunch tray, Minhyun gasped and rushed over to him.

“Minhyun, calm your flaps down, I’m fine.”

“Woon, you said it was nothing but he has a giant band aid over his fucking nose—”

“It really _is_ nothing – I just went with the bigger one since it’s free,” Sungwoon defends himself. “And this way he looks like a dumbass.”

“Thanks, Sungwoon,” Seongwoo deadpans.

“What happened? Sungwoon didn’t want to tell me anything until you get here—”

Seongwoo tiredly slides down into the chair next to Minhyun. He pokes the meat on his tray and is about to tell him the whole textbook incident, when Sungwoon interrupts him.

“He got in a fight,” Sungwoon says and Minhyun almost spits his lungs out.

“You did _what_?”

Seongwoo catches Sungwoon’s mischievous glance.

Time to fuck with Minhyun? He’s always ready for that.

Seongwoo shrugs. “Yeah. That’s what happened.”

Minhyun has his eyes like two giant saucers and it doesn’t take long for Seongwoo to burst out laughing.

“You two are full of shits,” Minhyun says and slaps Seongwoo’s shoulder (because he was closer) and rolls his eyes. “But I should have known. If Seongwoo fought, it wouldn’t be just his nose broken.”

“Yah,” Seongwoo pouts. “It’s not broken. And I’m not _that_ useless.”

“It’s the exact thing you said though,” Sungwoon very helpfully supplies.

“Shut up,” Seongwoo mumbles and ignores their grins. “Can’t believe I’m still tolerating you and your bullshit.”

“We’re your only friends, Ong,” Minhyun jabs him one more time.

“Will you stop kicking me when I’m already down?” Seongwoo throws his hands up in the air. “Or is there nothing like mercy in this world?”

“You have a cute band aid, though.” Minhyun smiles. Seongwoo’s hand automatically flies to his nose, where the kitty band aid covers most of the damage done to his beautiful face and practically hides his whole nose at this point.

“Aww, thanks,” Sungwoon coos. “I chose it myself.”

“You chose well,” Minhyun grins and smiles at him sweetly. “Thanks for taking care of him, Woon-ah.”

“No worries. He’s my friend too, babe.”

“Hey,” Seongwoo protests and chases the green sprouts around in his tray. Can they _not_ be all disgustingly lovey-dovey right in front of his fucking salad? “I’m not your love child or something. It’s not like I can’t take care of myself.”

“Sure you can,” Minhyun says and leans into his side. “But I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself while doing it.”

“Ah really, this fucker,” Seongwoo mutters but lets Minhyun pet his head, because he’s a damn good friend and because he’s used to dealing with Minhyun’s shit every day.

“So what really happened?” Minhyun asks eventually when he stops with the nonsense and returns to his lunch tray. Seongwoo spots that the cafeteria ladies gave Minhyun a little bit more meat than him, so he decides to steal a few pieces before answering.

“I got hit by a textbook—”

“Korean History,” Sungwoon adds.

“—and then was tackled by our favourite junior and football captain Kang Daniel.”

“What? _Kang Daniel_? Why would he tackle you?”

“He was trying to catch the book. Then he wanted to take me to the infirmary, but Woon showed up and forced him to leave it to him. Kang Daniel left and now I’m here with a kitty band aid.”

The reaction he gets from Minhyun is everything but expected.

Minhyun turns to Sungwoon with this disappointed face and slaps his boyfriend’s arm over their trays. “You stupid moron!”

“What?” Sungwoon yelps and rubs the sore spot. “What, why?”

“You should have left Kang Daniel to take care of him,” Minhyun says tiredly and taps his temple. “Don’t you watch any kdramas at all?”

“I saw Ong with a fucking nose bleed! Of course I went there to help him!”

“Yeah, and that’s nice and all but Daniel was already taking him, why would you butt in—”

Seongwoo’s brain is kind of slow and he can’t really grasp the situation here. “Woah, woah, Minhyun, what are you impl—”

“Whatever,” Minhyun sighs and slumps in his seat. “It doesn’t matter now.”

Seongwoo has this weird ominous feeling but decides to let it go. When Minhyun gets this face the ‘I’m surrounded by idiots’ face, it’s better to leave him alone.

Jisung doesn’t take his bloodied nose very well.

“You fought, didn’t you?” is the first thing he asks him, when he finally stops with the fuzzing. Seongwoo’s lying down on the couch. The band aid was taken off, because Jisung said it was flipping him off. Seongwoo almost cackled when he found out that his supposed bashed-in-nose really _was_ nothing – the only remnant of his close contact with the textbook was a scratch which happened to tear some skin, but otherwise he seemed fine. Or that’s what he’s been trying to explain to Jisung – his uncle was having none of it though. He forced him to lie down and keep frozen package of peas on his nose so he “wouldn’t get stitches and die” or something like that. Jisung was no doctor, but he sure was a mum.

“I didn’t fight anyone,” Seongwoo says tiredly.

“Right. You don’t know how to fight,” Jisung admits and Seongwoo whines. He sits up and adjusts the pack of peas on his face. Why is everyone dissing his fighting skills? He fought, like never, how come they all make statements like that?

“Is it Seongwoo-slander day or what?”

“That’s every day,” Jisung deadpans and Seongwoo only flops down back on the couch.

“I didn’t fight anyone. It was an accident. A guy threw a book and I got hit. End of story.”

“A guy _threw_ a book? _At you_?”

Jisung gets up and Seongwoo can see this stance, clearly showing that Jisung has enough and is so going to sue the whole school – in old ugly cargo pants and a tshirt with a picture of sunflowers he sure seems intimidating enough to pass for a dissatisfied parent.

“NO! No, not at me, not on purpose – at Kang Daniel—”

“At Kang Daniel? Fuck, that school is fucked up—”

“Not like at _at_ him – just… it was an accident.”

“Did he get hurt? Daniel?”

Seongwoo looks up. “You still remember Daniel?”

Jisung shrugs. “Of course I do. He was in the same football team with you.”

“He was passing the towels.”

“He was still a member of the team.”

“Whatever you say,” Seongwoo sighs.

Seongwoo remembers his football career which started at a young age of twelve and ended two years later. Jisung was coaching their little football team for about two months like a substitute when their _real_ coach went on holidays, but whenever his uncle talked about his “coaching days” it always sounds like he invested his whole youth in fourteen year old brats chasing a ball. He even remembered all the names of the kids and their hobbies, just so he could be the great coach from all the B-rated American sports films.

“You sure you don’t want to go to hospital?” Jisung asks for what seems like umpteenth time. “I heard you can get infections from small injuries and then die like two days later, all blue and decaying…”

Jisung, needless to say, was as same amount of a drama-queen as his nephew.

The next day is Friday.

Seongwoo likes Fridays.

Fridays are the end of the pain-in-the-ass week and the beginning of a weekend. Seongwoo has classes that don’t really bug him and the lunch time is earlier too, so he’s not forced to sneak chips in his mouth during literature like the rest of the week.

“You have the first class of the newspaper thing in the afternoon, right?” Minhyun asks him during the recess before English. “Will it be like last year?”

Seongwoo shrugs. “I don’t really know. Woojinie said we got some new additions to the team and I think that Lee-seonsaegnim retired.”

Minhyun pokes him in the shoulder. “It wasn’t you who made him retire, right?”

“Yah. Why would anyone give up a chance to see my ethereal face every Friday?”

“That’s why I’ll ask again – you didn’t make him retire, did you?”

“You’re an asshole,” Seongwoo snorts and Minhyun laughs.

The newspaper club had exactly six members – Park Woojin, an energetic junior who was taking care of the news; Lee Daehwi and Bae Jinyoung, who were currently in Japan for two weeks and were in charge of the cultural section; Jeon Somi with the editing; Jung Eunji as the writer for the sports segment and of course Ong Seongwoo and his poetry corner. Professor Lee was about hundred+ year old guy stinking of kimchi and soju most of the time, but was really nice to all of them. He let the club manage the paper in their own way, giving Eunji the leader status, so they would be at least a little bit organised. His only condition though was that they keep their mouths shut, because he wanted to listen to his box of a radio in peace and knit sweaters for his dog.

Eunji was trying hard to boost the popularity of their paper and get new members every semester, but with not much success - newspaper wasn’t really a hot thing among their schoolmates so it _really_ took Seongwoo by surprise that there were new people joining in this semester – and he’s sure Woojin said _additions_ as in plural form, which was even stranger than Seongwoo dared to admit out loud.

“Well, we’ll see how it’s going to be,” he says to Minhyun, when the bell rings.

The English passes rather quickly and before Seongwoo knows it he’s swept by his classmates out to the hallway. Seongwoo can’t really blame them – he would book it right through the windows if he didn’t have his extracurricular duties.

“Hey, how about arcades tomorrow?” Minhyun asks him before they have to separate. Minhyun has cram school on Fridays (the fact that he needs it remains a mystery to Seongwoo). “I’ll text Woon and we can all go together?”

“Sure,” Seongwoo replies and tries to feel like it’s three friends planning a hang out and not a Minhyun-Sungwoon couple taking their third wheel with them. “Text me the details, when you get home.”

Minhyun nods and smiles at him before he walks away, books balanced in one hand, while in the other he’s already typing away on his phone.

Seongwoo sighs. It isn't really anything new – hanging out with Minhyun and Sungwoon. However, Seongwoo does wonder when it started to feel like dates of a real couple with him being the annoying little brother Minhyun couldn’t find a babysitter for.

The walk to the news club room is short and Seongwoo is soon standing in front of the familiar doors with a DIY plate titled ‘newspaper room’. Daehwi was pretty proud of it and taped it there, despite Somi’s protests that unicorn stickers don’t really show any respect towards the school board.

Seongwoo smiles at it and steps in, seeing that the room hasn’t changed at all.

There are still the same old tables, three-legged chairs and one big notice board which is hung over a map of South Korea. There is Daehwi’s old easel used when the younger was too bored and sick of everyone and needed an “artistic outlet”; there is Jinyoung’s photography collection pinned to the opposite wall; Seongwoo sees that Eunji’s bookcase seems to be stuffed with new books, indicating that the girl had dropped by before Seongwoo did, and even Woojin’s self-made “just dance” carpet was still taking up the corner gathering dust. They were things Seongwoo got used to through the years of being a member and like others he knew something the school didn’t – this was not only a school paper club room – it was their little island where they could do what they enjoyed without people bugging them.

Seongwoo loved it – because it was old and same as always. It was a constant in his life that changed just slightly over the years but in its core stayed static, anchoring him in time.

“Um, hi?”

Or it did.

Seongwoo whips his head towards the voice and there it is – the changes.

A boy’s sitting at one of the tables far back in the corner, so Seongwoo didn’t notice him when he first entered the room. He is wearing a pink sweatshirt over his white uniform shirt and seems to be playing something on his phone, his doe eyes glued to the screen as if his life depended on it. Seongwoo doesn’t really need him to introduce himself, because he knows him all too well – or should he say that the whole school knows him? A jock and the ultimate pretty boy of their little humble school, idol-like and famous for his small acting gigs in commercials and period dramas, Park Jihoon.

“Hi,” Seongwoo says and scratches his cheek. What the hell is Park Jihoon doing in his oasis of procrastination? It feels like a Gucci model wandered into a second-hand shop wearing just a paper bag – damn weird. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m a new member,” Jihoon chirps and finally puts away his phone. His smile is coy and sweet and Seongwoo can almost taste the saccharine in it. “I’m Park Jihoon. You are Ong-sunbae, right?”

“Yeah. You know me?”

“I do,” Jihoon replies and stands up from his seat. “I’m sorry about yesterday – I didn’t mean to throw it at you…”

“What?”

“The textbook?” Jihoon laughs slightly, avoiding his gaze. “I hope it won’t leave a scar, that would be a shame, really…”

Jihoon.

Seongwoo recalls Daniel yesterday yelling something at some Jihoon kid, but is that really possible? Jihoon? As in that Jihoon, who knocked Seongwoo out with the textbook on Korean History? _That_ Jihoon was _Park _Jihoon? Seongwoo can’t really differentiate his emotions now – there is something between the urge to smack this kid (hopefully with something equally as heavy as the Korean History textbook), thank him for knowing Seongwoo’s name, or be boring and just let it go.

Seongwoo decides on the last option (vetoing violence and also the thanking for the sake of his dignity) and shakes his head. “S’okay.”

“Really?” Jihoon stands up and seems a little bit concerned and Seongwoo would be grateful if he weren’t too dumbfounded from the fact that Jihoon is the one who knocked him out and also the one who decided to join the newspaper club.

“Yeah. Daniel…well, my friend Sungwoon took care of me,” Seongwoo says absentmindedly. Jihoon perks up at that. He looks like the cover for candy bars – all sweet and ready to give you headaches.

“Well, great,” Jihoon giggles. “Actually—”

It’s right then, when the others barge in, led by none other than the president of their club. Jung Eunji sizes the two boys up with a very disdainful manner, sporting skirt over her gym pants. “Yah. Ong Seongwoo. Couldn’t you have let some light in when you got here first?”

“Sorry, Prez,” Seongwoo sighs and moves over to the windows. “Already on it.”

“Jihoon-ah!” Woojin shouts and rushes over to startled Park Jihoon. “You actually made it!”

Seongwoo stares in horror as the two boys engage themselves in a very serious and very complicated handshake, including some hip movements and arm waves. The sole possibility that these two guys know each other and might even be on really good terms leaves somewhat ominous feeling in Seongwoo’s stomach. Like he should be preparing a first aid kit and never let them touch anything flammable.

“Oppa!” Jeon Somi throws herself at Seongwoo’s right arm. “What happened to you? Did you get in—”

“No,” Seongwoo says and it seems as if he’s aging a year every time someone asks if he got in a fight. “No fight. It was an accident.”

“Oh, bummer,” Somi pouts and gives him a light slap. “I think it would make you look cooler in front of the freshmen. Steal a few hearts and get yourself rid of that single-since-born label.”

“Hey! I’m not—”

Somi laughs. “You’re not what, oppa—”

She’s interrupted by Eunji’s loud coughing. Seongwoo turns around and spots her at the windows trying to tear down the curtains, causing a year worth of dust fly up in the air. Seongwoo clicks his tongue. “And you’re doing what, may I ask?”

Eunji frowns and blows hair out of her face. “Cleaning. I brought like dozens of cardboard boxes and left them outside in the hallway to throw away unnecessary trash.” Seongwoo can see the way everyone stares at her, utterly motionless. Eunji smiles icily. “And you should all help me, if you don’t want me to kick you.”

Woojin only cackles. “This room hasn’t been cleaned since the dinosaurs got whacked off the earth. Why so suddenly?”

Seongwoo can’t help but agree – cleaning wasn’t really anyone’s hobby and Minhyun refused to even set foot in here, when he found out that the club members had the bad habit of hogging all the trash in one corner and throw it out not until a few weeks later.

“Because of our new members,” Eunji says and there’s this _duh_ lingering in her answer. “We have to look, I don’t know. Like a club?”

Jihoon scratches his cheek and exchanges a glance with Woojin. “Um. That’s not necessary…”

“Of course it is!” Eunji exclaims. Seongwoo notices how she deliberately ignores Jihoon’s _“and I don’t want to clean this mess_”. “Lee-seonsaegnim has retired—” did Seongwoo imagine it or did Eunji just give him a sour look? “And though the school board hasn’t found our club any replacement for him yet, we _do_ have new members – so we have to take this seriously.”

Eunji busies herself with a broom (where did she even get it?) and Seongwoo reminds himself that this _is_ completely out of blue – Daehwi and Jinyoung were the new members too last year and Eunji certainly didn’t go out of her way to clean the clubroom for _them_.

“And I mean, it certainly wouldn’t do much harm to try this once in a while, freshening up the clubroom,” Eunji says and shrugs. “I mean as your representative I feel responsible, and the new members—”

“There,” Seongwoo frowns and folds his arms. “You keep saying members. With an ‘s’. But there’s only the Jihoon kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” Jihoon snorts.

“Wait,” Somi squeals. “Seongwoo-oppa _doesn’t_ _know_?”

“I guess, he doesn’t,” Seongwoo says.

Jihoon grins, while Somi only laughs. She smirks at Eunji who seems to be very satisfied with herself. Maybe too satisfied to Seongwoo’s liking. “Let’s just say that our reputation will sky-rocket and there might even be new members with an ‘s’ piling up on our front door,” Somi says and shrugs innocently.

Seongwoo scowls. “More members? Why? This is the only place where I can get—”

Suddenly there’s a loud bang, sounding like someone fell right outside of the clubroom. All of them turn toward the doors which slide open, revealing—

“Oh, sorry I’m late—” Kang Daniel huffs. “Fuck, I tripped – did you know there’s like tons of cardboard boxes right outside—”

Somi yanks Seongwoo’s hand and tugs at it. “Isn’t that just freaking amazing? _Kang Daniel_ in our club? How is that even—”

_\--possible_? Yeah, Seongwoo would like to know that too.

He thinks that the probability of Kang Daniel being their newest member is as high as the chance of hell freezing over. Damn, the possibility of Seongwoo getting a football scholarship is higher than _this_. But no matter how many times he blinks the icon of their school, the captain of the football team, _the_ Kang Daniel still stands there – in all his flesh and glory, in a black hoodie over his school uniform, hair swept back by a sports band, backpack thrown over one shoulder and his face bright and smiling.

“Daniel! Man, why are you always late,” Jihoon shouts and leaps to his side. Jihoon’s face is grinning, but Seongwoo can’t help but feel there’s something a little bit sinister about the way his corners keep twitching. “You _almost_ missed the cleaning!”

Sinister, indeed.

“Daniel-oppa!” Somi leaps to Daniel’s other side and beams up at him. “Why did you suddenly decide to join the newspaper? You like to write?”

“Um—”

“Stop it with the nonsense,” Eunji cuts in, but she’s beaming. Of course she is. Who is better than the prototype of small-town celebrity Kang Daniel to make their little scribbles known to the public and attract new potential members into their closet of a clubroom?

Eunji turns to Daniel and extends her hand, which the younger happily accepts. “Hey, I’m Jung Eunji. The official leader – but we have democracy here, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, it’s democratic until the moment you disagree,” Woojin mutters and Seongwoo quietly hums in agreement. Woojin coughs into his fist and then grins at Daniel. “But hey, welcome – I’m a huge fan. You’re a fantastic player, Kang!” Woojin shakes Daniel’s hand, pumping it up and down, as if he wanted to tear it out of Daniel’s socket. “I’m Park Woojin by the way. My class is next to yours.”

Seongwoo snorts and shakes his head. The awkward introductions are not really his thing, but it can’t be helped it seems. Even though they technically know each other, they were never like. Buddy-Buddy. Properly introduced.

When Seongwoo looks at Daniel though, it hits a very different level of weird – because Daniel upon noticing Seongwoo fucking _freezes_; his face going completely still.

“What—” Daniel seems shell-shocked when their eyes meet. He stares at Seongwoo as if Seongwoo suddenly grew a leg from his nose and Seongwoo can’t really understand what did he do to deserve this reception. Daniel is gaping at him in what seems like utter astonishment. Not the kind of _oh-god-is-that-a-surprise-party_ kind of astonishment and more like _why-me_ kind of astonishment.

Eunji turns to Seongwoo, surprised. “You two know each other?”

Seongwoo slowly explains. “Kinda… we used to be in the same football club in middle school. Daniel, um, you okay?” Seongwoo asks and waves his hand in front of the other’s face. “You seem—”

“What…Seongwoo-sunbae, you are a member…here?” Daniel seems to be regaining his composure again and Seongwoo raises an eyebrow.

“Yes. I’ve been a member since like forever.”

“Oh.”

Daniel avoids his eyes and Seongwoo wonders what the hell happened to the guy who stopped him from getting into a fight in the changing room and gave him a pink cloth tissue. This Daniel just awkwardly stands at the threshold and looks like he questions all his life choices. Not that Seongwoo can’t relate to that – it just that it doesn’t really go with Kang Daniel’s concept.

“_Al_-right,” Seongwoo says. He feels that others are staring and he doesn’t want to make this into a bigger deal than it actually is. Which is no deal. Because he doesn’t know what Daniel’s deal is, that is. “So – can we start?”

Eunji snaps out of her trance and, thank the Lord, agrees and claps. “Fine! We can clean later I guess…Let’s decide on the next week’s issue…”

They all sit down at the round table that takes up the back of the room. It was reserved for the group meetings – and of course for their endless bickering about which house in Harry Potter is the best or what should they order for a snack.

The round table – where they were all equal.

With Eunji being the first among the equal, of course.

“Is there anything you would like to specialize in? Jihoon? Daniel?”

“Um,” Jihoon seems unsure and starts to play with the strings of his sweatshirt. “What’s available?”

Eunji frowns. “Haven’t you read any of our issues?”

Jihoon has enough shame to blush. “Not really.”¨

Eunji shakes her head and Seongwoo sees she’s trying to stay professional. “I’m on sports. Daehwi and Jinyoung – you’ll meet them soon enough – have the cultural pages. Somi is in charge of editing, Woojin covers the news and Seongwoo – well, Seongwoo has the poetry corner.”

“Poetry?” Jihoon asks, surprised. Seongwoo looks at him and tries to ignore the way Daniel only sits there and stares blankly at his own hands. “You write it?”

“Sometimes,” Seongwoo replies. He looks at Daniel, who seemed to be looking at him as well – the second he notices that Seongwoo caught him though, he immediately averts his eyes choosing to gape at his shoes.

What the fuck _is_ with this Kang kid?

Is he like, mad about the tissue? But he _told_ Seongwoo to keep it. Seongwoo tries to remember if he offended him in some way, but his mind comes up with nothing. He _was_ nothing but an exemplary sunbae to Daniel (as in, ignored Daniel like he did with all his underclassmen). However the way Daniel avoided the eye-contact with him seemed like Seongwoo ran over his grandma or something. “Sometimes I just put together a collection of poems that fits the month.”

Jihoon nods thoughtfully and cocks his head. “Nice. Well, I think I could take on the jokes section? You know the page with some leisure stuff – like jokes and funny stories, interviews, crosswords, like that,” Jihoon offers. Eunji seems sold and ignores Woojin’s jab, when he mutters “_but_ _you’re not funny, Jihoon-ah_”. She brightens up, when she takes down the notes. “That’s a brilliant idea! How about—”

“I was thinking…” Daniel starts shyly and raises his hand. “I would like to do something like…a keeper’s corner?”

Eunji seems confused and she’s not alone. Somi leans her chin against her palms. “What do you mean? Like a pet corner?”

“Yeah! Exactly that,” Daniel says excitedly. “I would love to do something about like a cat world, like the interesting facts and how to treat them, cat language…”

“You meant ‘pet’ or ‘cat’?” Seongwoo laughs and points at him with his pen. “Your bias is showing.”

Daniel looks at him and smiles a little. And Seongwoo can’t help but see that it’s really gentle, but also that in some way it makes him feel kind of… uncomfortable. As if he was being soothed, humoured. For what, Seongwoo has zero idea. Did Daniel do something _to him_? Daniel’s still looking at him funny, when he says. “I…really like cats.” Then he turns to Eunji. “But I know that’s too one-topic. I could of course expand it to other pets –”

“Sounds great,” Eunji agrees and grins. “I’m looking forward to it.”

The rest of the meeting goes pretty smoothly after that. Somi tells them about this all-girls camp she went to and how it was amazing, because they were learning self-defense techniques and she can now kick everyone’s butt in a matter of ten seconds. Seongwoo swore to himself never to test or to find out whether it was true. He would like to spend all his ten seconds by _not_ getting his butt kicked. Eunji presents them with the semester schedule for the newspaper club so they could see she’s really all about the innovation this semester. Woojin yawns very loudly at this part of her speech and he gets smacked in response by Eunji’s jacket. They wrap up with some biscuits Somi brought and call it a day.

“This is not like how it normally goes, guys,” Eunji says when she is locking up the club room, speaking directly to the newbies. “It’s just because it’s our first meeting this semester so I was trying to do it more like informative and introductory. The real work begins next week, so you better not slack off. Understood?”

When Daniel salutes and Jihoon nods with his whole body, Eunji smiles. “Good. See you then?”

They all say their goodbyes and Seongwoo is so ready to be out of here.

It’s Friday and finally, it’s the beginning of the weekend.

He starts down the hallway toward the lockers, checking his phone for new messages. There are three – one from Minhyun, regarding their meet up tomorrow; one from Jisung reminding him to buy some pastries on his way back home, and the third one is from his dad.

Seongwoo laughs when he reads his dad’s clumsy message. His dad was never really friendly with the modern technology, which was one of the many qualities Seongwoo fortunately doesn’t share with him – along with his poor fashion sense and mysterious interest in economy.

Shit. Seongwoo curses when he realizes, he forgot to call his dad again. He should give him a call once he’s home.

“Um, Seongwoo-sunbae?”

Seongwoo looks up from his phone. Kang Daniel is standing right in front of his locker looking like someone in a queue for a guillotine. His face is betraying nervousness but also this kind of sad resignation – as if he just accepted the inevitable and wants to tackle it head on.

‘_It’_, Seongwoo thinks, seems like ‘_this’_.

“Kang.” Seongwoo shoves the phone into his pocket and gives him a curious nod. “What’s up?”

Daniel takes a deep breath. He looks at his shoes. Then the ceiling. Then to the side. And then finally at Seongwoo.

“Oh God, spill,” Seongwoo says flatly. What is this? Some kind of new way of pissing people off? Kang Daniel really shouldn’t try to get on Seongwoo’s bad side. Seongwoo’s still a senior and he deserves some respect. Also, he’s too old for this bullshit and he doesn’t want to age more watching Daniel’s theatrics.

“I…can we talk?”

Seongwoo frowns and raises his eyebrow. “We are now.”

“No, I mean…” Daniel helplessly gesticulates. “…_talk_.”

What the fuck is he playing at?

“Then _talk_,” Seongwoo replies disbelievingly. This conversation sounds dumber and dumber by each passing second.

Daniel stares at him and grabs his nape. “Okay…Seongwoo…”

_Seongwoo_? When the hell did Kang Daniel decide they are on the first name basis? Without honorifics?

“…I really appreciated it. I really do. It was… beautifully written and I never knew that I… that you…” Daniel is looking at him and Seongwoo doesn’t understand shit.

“And although some things you wrote there were not really fair or flattering—” here, Daniel grimaces as if he was chewing on lemon, but then his face softens again. “—the other stuff…I feel so honoured that you opened up to me of all people…but—” Daniel is still talking and still looking at him with this look; the look filled with regret and pity and softness and Seongwoo is still dumb as a stick because—

_Kang Daniel, what the hell were you smoking._

Daniel stops and Seongwoo realizes he said that out loud.

“What?”

“No, Kang, _I_ am what-ing _you_,” Seongwoo says. “What the fuck are you talking about? What writing? What do you appreciate?”

Daniel stares at him for a second. He looks absolutely perplexed, but then he shakes his head. His hair is tamed by the sports band, but it still partly falls across his forehead. Daniel’s eyes are determined when he speaks again. “Your writing. The letter. The letter you’ve sent me.”

“What?” Seongwoo laughs. “I didn’t send any _letter,_ and certainly not to you. Why would I—”

Seongwoo always wondered if jocks could get hit by a ball so hard, so their brains would fall right out of their ears. Seems like he got his answer after all those years of pondering.

Daniel looks confused and a little bit annoyed, when he starts digging through his backpack. “But there _is_ a letter – there was even an address and a stamp, _your_ name—”

“Fuck, Daniel, I don’t know what are you—”

And then Daniel shoves something into his hand.

And Seongwoo’s tongue dies in his fucking mouth.

Because the thing – the _thing_ Daniel gave him just now – it’s –

“This came to me in the mail,” Daniel says hotly. His voice sounds confused but there’s also hint of frustration. “You wrote this, didn’t you? I’m sure – I saw your writing at the club meeting and it’s the _same_ and I—” Daniel is still talking but Seongwoo can’t hear him.

He _can’t_.

He can’t. He can’t hear him. Because this is fucking impossible. Shit. This is not real. Daniel’s still talking and Seongwoo’s hands are shaking and his heart is shaking too because fuck fuck _fuck_.

He stares at the thing in his hands, at the envelope, white and also a little bit worn by the time, stares at his own hand writing, which spells out Kang Daniel’s name, a name he wrote there two years ago.

Two years ago on an envelope addressed to Kang Daniel; his third love letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whooohoooo, first letter found its receiver mwhahaaha  
um. i mean sorry, ong (and sorry to you for the cliffhanger) (or not)
> 
> let me know what you think of the chapter! kudos are most welcome, any reaction from you guys just makes my heart melt  
also, you can find me on twitter! i've just made an account @dorkitos so let's discuss whatever~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> of toilets and lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, welcome to another chapter of dramaAA  
thank you so much for continuing reading this fic!! hope you'll enjoy the third chapter~ 
> 
> the giantest thanks to those who left me kudos and all those lovely comments, like. seriously. your nice words keep me awake crying of joy at night

There is a lot of things Seongwoo’s afraid of.

Seongwoo hates confined places. He’s never thought of himself as claustrophobic because elevators were fine, but he hated the feeling of this creeping possibility he could get stuck somewhere. He ran away, when they were doing some camp activities in narrow cave tunnels. The darkness and the closeness of the walls were crushing him and he couldn’t handle it. He just booked it, when they handed him the headlights and the teacher told the taller ones ‘to duck, because the ceiling might be lower deeper in the cave’.

He doesn’t like snakes. He was afraid they would jump from grass and poison him.

He’s scared of failure. And scared of becoming one.

He’s scared of forgetting his dead mum completely. He might be even more afraid he would forget about his dad, now more that he’s away.

He’s scared that he would lose his friends.

Those are some of his biggest fears.

However, standing here in front of his locker, his hands clutching something that should have never seen the daylight, Seongwoo thinks that none of those fears has managed to knock the air out of his lungs this fast.

Kang Daniel is still standing there and Seongwoo can feel the stare.

Seongwoo closes his eyes and then opens them again.

Nope.

This is happening.

This is real and Seongwoo’s fucking screwed.

“How…” Seongwoo’s voice is hoarse and he’s still shaking. The letter feels like it’s burning his fingers and yet Seongwoo won’t stop shaking.

“I told you, it came in the mail this morning,” Daniel says, not unkindly. “And I—”

“I wrote this a long time ago,” Seongwoo blurts out. “And you were never supposed to see it—”

Daniel’s still looking at him softly and despite everything, Daniel’s expression makes Seongwoo somehow want to punch his face now.

“Okay. I just feel like I should tell you that…I really feel honoured.” Daniel grabs his nape and Seongwoo watches this jock guy turn into a kicked puppy in a matter of seconds. “You were so… honest there. And I feel like I owe you a proper answer…I mean, I didn’t even know… do you still—”

Seongwoo senses something before it even comes – the pity? The half-assed apology, but for what really?

So he holds up his hand and Daniel shuts up.

“Like I said, I wrote this like two years ago. None of it's true, Daniel. Not anymore.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Oh.”

Yeah, _oh_. No, more like _fuck_.

Seongwoo’s head spins. What does it mean that it came in the mail? How did it even get out of his cargo pants, got a stamp for fuck’s sake and got carried to the post? Did he do it? Did he like sleep walk and was trying to sabotage his own life--?

Daniel starts saying something, but Seongwoo’s heart suddenly stops.

Wait.

Wait a fucking minute.

Daniel got his letter. Seongwoo starts to hyperventilate and the room starts to twist in weird shapes and there are blurs dancing in front of his eyes.

Did _everyone_ get theirs? Sejeong, Jonghyun, Jaehwan –

His mind stutters, when he remembers the last one.

Fucking hell, did _Sungwoon_?

What will Minhyun think—

God.

“Sunbae? What—” Daniel’s voice is muffled, coming to Seongwoo from what seems like underwater, kilometres away. Which Seongwoo would like – to be dead in the sea far away from here. Seongwoo doesn’t realize he’s leaning against the lockers, clutching the letter to his chest, until the moment Daniel cups his face and makes him look into his eyes. “Hey, hey, you okay?”

No, he’s not okay. He’s far from that. He’s fucked. He’s in major crap.

Daniel’s just the beginning and Seongwoo might lose his best friend at the very end.

So, no, not okay. He’s fucked big time.

“Okay, okay, think, think, _think_,” Seongwoo mutters to himself and then he realizes that Daniel’s hands are still on his face and it for some weird reason makes him feel teeny tiny bit better. Like an anchor to this reality and this bullshit he just got himself into and needs to figure out as soon as possible.

Daniel’s face is scrunched with concern. Seongwoo feebly smiles at him. This kid is really kind – sometimes to fault. _You are unfairly beautiful – inside and out, although I hate admitting it._

“Kang,” Seongwoo says and gently pries the hands away. He has to think fast. He has to know if the letters are out and if so, how to minimize the damage. To stop the catastrophe; stop Sungwoon from finding out, _Minhyun_ from finding out.

“The letter…” Seongwoo has to gulp to find strength to his voice. “It was a long time ago. Like…it’s _history_. Can you please forget about it?”

Daniel steps back a little and Seongwoo is grateful for the space. “I…sure. If that’s what you want.”

“I do,” Seongwoo replies weakly. “The letter – it’s not relevant anymore.”

“Alright,” Daniel says, like the gentleman he is. “Forgotten. But are you sure you’re okay? You looked like you were about to pass out—”

“Just peachy!” Seongwoo exclaims. Hysteria is coming for him and he embraces it like an old friend. “Just great! Gotta go, Kang!”

“Wait, what—”

And Seongwoo does what he did all those years ago in front of those cave tunnels, the thing he always does.

He runs.

Dear Kang Daniel,

You should know that I’m not joining your fan club. Not in fucking hell, not _ever_. But it doesn’t mean I like you any less than those weirdos do. Hell, I might like you even more. Because that’s just me being a total shithead – when I love, I love completely.

I hate that you’re this _big_ star at our school. I hate the way you go down the hallways in that jock-y stroll and people are flying around you, just so they could spend one moment in your damn holy presence. I hate the fact teachers are no different – not immune to your charms and play favourites with you. And most of all I hate that you’re not doing anything about it – it’s clear that you find the fan club a bit too much, but you do nothing; as if it were too hard for you to confront them. Because you never do that with anyone. It seems like you hate saying _no_ to people and confrontations in general. And that’s what I don’t like about you. Saying no is crucial. Learn it.

But despite that, I like _you_. You’re a real cliché, you know? It’s like falling for the most obvious guy in the rom-com, going for chocolate instead of butter biscuits, gold instead of silver. But you’re just like that. You’re golden and I couldn’t help myself and fall for you like dozens of idiots before me and the dozens that will come after.

The thing is, everyone loves you. And I don’t blame them.

And even though I’m just one name, one face in this sea of love-sick people – to me? You’re special. You’re a big deal to me.

To be honest, I only had two crushes before you and it was tough for me. Because I liked a girl first, but then a guy. I cried then, when I realized it. Before you, I didn’t know anything and was confused most of the time. But now I feel like it’s different. Because I feel this way about you, when I finally understand it and can accept it.

Well. Understand. That’s a pretty big word, right? How could one understand love?

The hilarious thing is that when I finally accepted myself, you were the first one I must fall for. Fucking joke, if you ask me. The most popular guy in school – like, can it get any more obvious?

But you’ve never _abused_ that. You are popular and you know it, but you’ve never tried to _make_ people see it. When you talk to someone, you always give them your whole attention, always turn to them with your whole body, so they would know they’re worth listening to. That’s what I like about you. No matter how much you climbed the ladder, from that towel boy in our middle school team to the youngest football captain our school’s ever had, you yourself have never felt like the one above me and more like the one who wanted to share it with others, make them feel good about their own selves whoever they were.

You helped me once in the theatre hall – you were just passing by on the way to your football practice and saw me cleaning up props from the stage. You rushed over to help the nerd from a drama club and didn’t even think of letting me do it by myself. You ended up going late to your training, but you didn’t give a fuck. Because you just help people, always and with everything; you are unfairly beautiful – inside and out, although I hate admitting it.

This love lasted quite a long time, almost my whole sophomore year. Who knows why. But it makes me realize it’s okay to love you – it makes me feel right in my own skin. It makes me feel like I can be myself, despite what everyone says.

So I guess, thanks for that.

Ong Seongwoo

Seongwoo wants to scream when he arrives home, but Jisung is home and that would take a lot of explaining. Plus, he has no actual energy to scream.

“Hyung – I – _God_ –” Seongwoo can’t really catch his breath. He ran all the way home and regarding his poor physique, that means a lot. “Hyung - ah –”

“Hey, Seongwoo,” Jisung cheerily welcomes him, clearly not noticing the distress Seongwoo’s going through.

It’s not until Seongwoo collapses against a wall, does Jisung frown.

“Were you running? Why?”

“_Can’t_ – talk – have – to—” Seongwoo’s lungs are about to burst and he’s trying his best not to vomit on the spot. “_Have_ – _to_—”

“Hey, slow down, tiger,” Jisung says and grabs him by the shoulders. “What happened, kiddo?”

“I – the _pants_ – where are the –”

Seongwoo wriggles out of Jisung’s hold and dashes into his room. He jumps into his closet and starts frantically throwing out all the pieces of clothing he owns, looking for the cargo pants, where all his love letters should be along with his sanity. “Come on – _come on_—”

But it’s useless. No ugly cargo pants and Seongwoo wants to cry.

Jisung steps in his room and forces him to look at him. “Seongwoo. What the hell are you looking for?”

“The cargo pants,” Seongwoo whines. “The pants my dad gave me –”

Jisung laughs and it’s a very weird sound to Seongwoo’s ears now. His world is burning up in flames and his uncle is _laughing_?

“Oh yeah, the pants? I borrowed them. Sorry,” Jisung says as if it’s nothing.

Seongwoo’s stomach twists into a knot. “You did _what_?”

Jisung holds up his hands in the air in a sign of apology. “Sorry, sorry. I know how much you don’t like me stealing your clothes but I was looking for something to wear and the pants were really pretty – I mean you’ve seen me wearing them yesterday—"

“To hell with the pants!” Seongwoo screams and shakes Jisung until the latter’s teeth clack. _“Where are the letters?! The envelopes in the pockets?”_

Jisung snorts and takes Seongwoo’s hands off him. Seongwoo didn’t even realize that his nails were digging into his uncle’s shoulders, but he could care less now.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already sent the rest today,” Jisung says and Seongwoo goes completely still.

“You’ve… sent them?”

Jisung’s looking at him as if Seongwoo were the one crazy here.

“Yeah. I figured you left them in the pockets and forgot to send them. By the way it’s cute you send letters, but that’s beside the point. Well, I didn’t have enough stamps so I sent two yesterday and the other three this morning.” Jisung laughs. “You should have told me you need new envelopes though. Some looked really shabby and old—”

Seongwoo slides down onto the floor.

His life is ruined.

No, not ruined. He’s just good as dead.

“You have no idea what you did,” Seongwoo says shakily and buries his head in his hands.

“What?” Jisung’s voice is concerned and he kneels right in front of him. Seongwoo can’t really blame him – he didn’t know. He’s just a caring uncle, who wanted to help out his stupid nephew. “What, weren’t they supposed to be sent? What’s happening?”

What’s happening?

The only thing that’s happening is that Seongwoo’s feelings – all those feelings he sealed in the letters, are now out there in the open; the ghosts of his past loves are back and ready to haunt him. And he’s forced to face them one by one.

Including the current one – Ha Sungwoon, his _best friend’s boyfriend_.

Fucking incredible.

“Talk to me, Seongwoo,” Jisung says and pats his cheek. “What were those letters?”

And he can’t tell Jisung. No matter how close they are, he’s still his uncle.

And because it’s fucking embarrassing.

Seongwoo fears the next week.

He makes up a lame excuse about being sick, when Minhyun reminds him of their Saturday hang out, and stays at home. He then does a very adult thing and ignores both Minhyun’s and Sungwoon’s calls and texts, trying to come up with a reasonable battle plan for the days ahead.

He could run away from town, Seongwoo ponders as he paces his room. Run away from town, claim he’s 21 and enlist. He could just tell Jisung that he’s visiting dad or something.

Seongwoo curses, because he _still_ hasn’t called his dad.

Also, he realizes he’s in pretty deep shit when he starts googling “fake id download”.

Kang Daniel was the first one to approach him about the letter.

Who was the other who got their letter that day?

Seongwoo bites his lip and throws himself on the bed. It didn’t really matter – all of them will get the letter at some point. With how much is their town populated (as in, not) the mailman had to be damn thrilled to finally get something to do.

Seongwoo inhales deeply. Well. He’s going to handle this. Pfff. So what that his most personal things are read by the people who were never supposed to see them.

His heart jumps in his throat and he kind of wishes he could tell someone, but the thing is – there is absolutely no one to tell about his sad and pathetic ass.

The Mondays are tragic. Because it’s the end of the weekend and the start of the week.

And because Seongwoo is a fucking coward.

He manages to dodge Sungwoon in front of the school and very maturely hides behind a corner when he sees him and Minhyun greeting each other there. He says “hi” to Minhyun by the lockers and then he dashes to the toilets like a ninja without even waiting for Minhyun’s reply.

He’s really glad for once in his life that the first period is PE and that Sungwoon is in different classroom. Seongwoo ducks to the toilets with his gym clothes. Minhyun is still his best friend _and_ his classmate, so it’s very unlikely that Seongwoo will be able to avoid him forever, but he could certainly delay the inevitable. He slowly tiptoes inside, closing the door delicately, his eyes still on the doorknob in case –

“What are you doing, sunbae?”

Seongwoo nearly screams. Nearly.

Kang Daniel stands by the mirror in his gym clothes. He has a simple white tshirt and basic sweatpants on, but he still looks so freaking _good_ – like the perfect boy next-door, a fantasy come true. Seongwoo wonders why Daniel’s not wearing his uniform, when he remembers that Seongwoo’s class has PE with his class. Daniel’s blond hair is softly falling over his forehead and Seongwoo notices the way his eyes are wide with surprise. Huh. Daniel is certainly not the only one, who thought they would hopefully never associate with each other outside of the newspaper club and PE classes.

“Nothing.” Seongwoo decides to go for the nonchalant tone. “Changing.”

Daniel scratches his cheek.

“No. I meant the spy move you were doing, coming in.”

“Oh. Um,” Seongwoo flushes. “None of your business.”

Daniel shrugs a little, smiling warily. “Okay.”

Of all the people, why Kang Daniel? Their previous conversation still hangs in the air and Seongwoo (rereading the letter during the weekend) remembers the shit he wrote and it makes this situation really embarrassing now.

“Um,” Seongwoo starts, but Daniel leans his shoulder against the wall and speaks up first.

“You told me to forget about the letter, but you’re not really making it easy for me with the whole avoiding looking at my face thing.”

“Well, excuse me if I’m a little jumpy but it _was_ pretty personal,” Seongwoo mutters, annoyed. What would Kang Daniel know about public humiliation?

“It was,” Daniel agrees and folds his arms. He looks sideways and Seongwoo can’t help staring a little at his toned arms. Daniel continues. “So…you’re sure…you don’t have any feelings for me?”

Seongwoo chokes on his own spit.

Freaking Kang Daniel can’t be more full of himself, can he? Daniel’s face is shy and yeah, Seongwoo understands that the letter was quite deep emotionally-wise, because at that time it was all true. But how many times is he supposed to tell him that _now_ it means nothing? As in N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Seongwoo knows it’s not really fair, but the frustration built up over the weekend gives absolute fuck about that.

“I’m sure, Kang,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. “I don’t like you anymore—”

“But why are you—” Daniel gesticulates to Seongwoo in general. “—so nervous—”

“Because!” Seongwoo exclaims. How could he really ask that? Doesn’t he know what is it like to be so fucking embarrassed? “Good god in heaven, I don’t like you! I don’t! I _doooooon’t_.”

Daniel stands there and seems to be shocked and teeny tiny bit amused at his outburst, and Seongwoo kind of feels satisfied that he told the great Kang Daniel _that_.

“Okay, okay, sorry. Just wanted to be sure,” Daniel says and holds up his hands. “You were totally out of it yesterday so I thought I better check again.” He frowns. “By the way, are you okay—”

“Whatever,” Seongwoo cuts him off and snorts. “I’m going to change—”

Suddenly, a voice outside the toilets brings Seongwoo back into the shit reality he’s in.

“_I haven’t seen him in the morning… maybe he’s in there_—” there’s a pause, during which Seongwoo’s stomach drops a few floors down. “_I mean… there’s something… I need to talk to him, Nyeon-ah_.”

It’s Sungwoon. And Minhyun.

And Seongwoo acts out of pure self-preservation instinct. He grabs Daniel by the collar of his shirt, ignoring his _“what the—”,_ and shoves him inside one of the booths. He closes the door behind them just in time before Sungwoon and Minhyun enter the toilets.

“Seongwoo? You here?”

The toilet booth is not really spacious. Seongwoo turns around just to be met with Daniel’s confused dark eyes, asking a clear question: _What kind of fuckery are you pulling now. _Seongwoo pleads with his whole face and shakes his head. Daniel studies him for a second and then sighs.

“Seongwoo?” Minhyun’s voice. “I guess, he’s not here. What did you want to talk about, Sungwoon-ah?”

“He’s sent me—”

The one-second silence that follows seems like years. Seongwoo can feel Daniel’s breathing on his neck and the body heat he radiates. Seongwoo’s heart is thumping in his ears and his toes, and he’s dying, waiting for Sungwoon’s answer.

“…nothing important. Don’t worry about it, it can wait.”

Seongwoo almost hears Minhyun shrug. “Okay. Our class has PE now, so I’ll ask him where the hell he’s been. I’ll text you…”

The two exit the toilets, the sound of the doors closing making a swishy sound.

Sungwoon didn’t tell him.

He read the letter. But he didn’t tell Minhyun.

“Are you okay?”

Seongwoo jumps almost up to the troposphere – he completely forgot he’s squeezed against Kang Daniel in a small smelly toilet booth. Daniel’s looking at him funny and Seongwoo flushes. He immediately gets out, tripping over his own feet. “Sorry—it just—”

Daniel comes out and grabs his nape uncertainly. “So… did one of them get a letter too?”

Seongwoo winces. “Wh-What?”

Daniel shoves his hands deep inside his pockets and shifts his weight from the balls of his feet to his heels, rocking back and forth. He suddenly seems so much more real – just like a little boy, waiting for whatever. “Well…one, you’ve panicked when you heard them and then very ungently pushed me there—” he points towards the toilet booth, “… two, the Sungwoon guy definitely wanted to talk to you about ‘_something you’ve sent’_–” Daniel holds up a third finger, “—and _three_, you looked even worse than when I gave you my letter on Friday.” Seongwoo gapes at him and Daniel cocks his head, suddenly curious. “Did I get it right?”

“I—I—”

“So, you've sent a letter to this Sungwoon, too?”

“None of your business,” Seongwoo hisses. “Why would I—”

“Well, you don’t have to, obviously.” Daniel shrugs. “But it’d be only fair. I mean… I could’ve easily blown your cover.”

Hm. Seongwoo doesn’t really want to agree with that, but he’s right – Seongwoo does kind of owe him. Which is very unfortunate.

“But nevermind.” Daniel trudges over the exit. “PE is about to start, so I think we should get goi—”

“No! Don’t, you twat—” Seongwoo whisper-screams. Daniel can’t go out _now_. Minhyun and Sungwoon aren’t surely far enough and Seongwoo doesn’t want Daniel to casually bump into them after all this has happened. Sounds like a recipe for catastrophe.

He tries to catch Daniel by his arm, but Daniel’s not the school football captain just for nothing, Seongwoo sadly thinks. He quickly dodges Seongwoo’s attack and smoothly gets out of reach.

“Why not?”

“Just…” Seongwoo bites his lip. “Can you like wait twenty seconds? They can—”

Daniel smiles, but it’s not a menacing kind of smile. Seongwoo isn’t even sure if Kang Daniel, the school heartthrob, has biological predispositions to smile menacingly. “You don’t want me to accidently spill the tea that I got one letter too?” Seongwoo’s whole face burns up, but Daniel’s eyes only soften. “I wouldn’t do that.”

No, Seongwoo thinks he wouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean he trusts him.

“How many have you even sent, sunbae?” Daniel asks with a hand on the doorknob.

“Five.” What the fuck? Why is he even responding — God, Kang Daniel’s fucking annoying. Seongwoo throws up his hands in the air. “Just—”

“Um, wait…the guy – wasn’t that…” Daniel scrunches his forehead a little. “Just now - wasn’t that _the_ _Sungwoon_ who helped us with your bloodied nose?” As soon as he says it, Daniel’s eyes widen, suddenly seeming remorseful as if he didn’t want to ask that out loud. “Sorry. I don't want to corner you or...”

Seongwoo’s throat constricts a little.

But to be honest – Daniel just found out everything himself and Seongwoo is just too tired to make up a story. “Yeah.” It’s the first time he says it for someone to hear. And it must’ve been in front of Kang Daniel, what a joke. Not that Daniel knows that Seongwoo’s currently crushing on Sungwoon, but that’s beside the point. “Ha Sungwoon.”

“Ha Sungwoon,” Daniel repeats. “Short guy, light brown hair…?”

Seongwoo ruffles his own hair in frustration. He’s sure it stands now it all different directions, but he couldn’t care less. “_Yes_. That guy.”

Daniel opens his mouth, but before anything can come out, the bell rings, cutting him off.

Seongwoo grabs his bag with gym clothes and turns to the exit. “Okay, no matter how extremely pleasant this all was, I gotta go change. I have class.”

“We have the same class now—” Daniel says, but Seongwoo’s already out of there.

He takes a deep breath and decides to just change by his locker and be late a few minutes for his badminton torture. He’s still in front of the toilets, but he doesn’t fancy running into Kang Daniel one more time. He has to get out of here asap.

He makes like two steps and the moment he’s about to turn the corner though, he slams into Minhyun, who stands there leaning against a wall.

“There you are,” Minhyun says and steadies him by the shoulders. Minhyun is already in his gym clothes. Seongwoo hicupps upon seeing him, and just _freezes_.

Minhyun gives him the eyebrows and then looks towards the bathroom. “You _were_ in that bathroom, weren’t you?” Seongwoo just stares at him, this horrid feeling settling in his stomach. _Minhyun doesn’t know. He knows nothing. Sungwoon didn’t tell him. Calm down._

“Ong, why didn’t you answer—” Minhyun eyes Seongwoo disdainfully from head to toes. “And how come you’re not changed? And _wow_, your hair is really a mess—”

Minhyun wants to continue but suddenly stills, looking over Seongwoo’s shoulder. Seongwoo turns around just in time to see Kang Daniel come out of the bathroom, fixing his shirt. Seongwoo’s face flares up. _Keep on walking, Daniel, keep on walking. Please_. Unfortunately, Daniel spots them; he awkwardly smiles at Seongwoo, then politely nods at Minhyun, before he breaks into a light jog down the hallway and disappears in the direction of the school fields.

Minhyun stares after him and Seongwoo has to snap his fingers in front of Minhyun’s face. “Hey. Earth back to Minhyun?”

“Was that—you…Daniel…” Minhyun’s frowning as if he was solving a difficult equation. “Wait. Was he there too, when we…?”

“What?” Seongwoo just wants to go and play fucking badminton at this point and wallow over his pathetic life in between sets. Minhyun with this Sherlock-y expression of his is not something Seongwoo wants to deal with right now. “Hey, I need to go change, will you—”

But then Minhyun’s face brightens up like a damn lightbulb, his face a complete shock.

“_That’s_ why you were not answering, right? You fucker,” Minhyun says, his voice filled with disbelief. “_You were there with Daniel?”_

“What?”

“Oh my God,” Minhyun exclaims. Loudly. “Oh my God. And that’s why your hair looks like this – _hell_, really? I mean, I thought about it loads of times but still you’ve….” Seongwoo watches something really weird unfold right in front of his eyes, when Minhyun excitedly starts pacing back and forth. “Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“Tell you _what_?”

“That _you_ and _Daniel_,” Minhyun whisper-shouts.

“Me and Daniel what?”

“Are you really going to act until the very end?” Minhyun punches him in the shoulder and takes out his phone. “But you are really good. How long? I’ve never even noticed you fancied him.”

And then Seongwoo finally gets it.

Him, exiting the bathroom, hair a complete disaster.

Daniel exiting the same bathroom a second later, fixing his fucking _shirt_.

The fact Seongwoo _didn’t_ answer his friends, when they were looking for him there.

Seongwoo finally gets it and it’s just damn ridiculous.

“Wait, you think that me and Daniel—that we’re _together_?”

“You’re not?” Minhyun asks, confused, looking up from the screen of his phone. “I mean, the whole weekend you were like out of reach and that’s not like you. You were so busy with him, weren’t you, you traitor.” Minhyun gesticulates to his phone screen. “And now you’ve been hiding together in one toilet booth which is soooo middle school, by the way. I’ve just texted Sungwoon. Called dibs on the best man.”

“_What_? You’ve texted _Sungwoon_?” Seongwoo feels his body heat up, breaking in sweat. “What did he—”

Minhyun laughs. “Look at this,” he says and shows him the chat. “He’s _really_ dumbfounded. Look, he even wrote ‘_but that’s not possible’_…” Minhyun cackles and starts typing back, ‘_why not?_’.

Seongwoo watches anxiously as the bubble _Sungwoonie is typing_ appears and then suddenly disappears. Appears and then disappears. Appears and disappears.

Minhyun frowns. “What is he typing so long?”

Seongwoo looks over at his best friend. _He doesn’t know how to tell you that I have feelings for him_.

And then a message comes.

_Are you sure it’s true?_

“Is he _that_ sceptic about you and Daniel? I mean, you look really cute together. Maybe he can’t believe you’re finally not single. Which is perfectly understandable,” Minhyun thinks out loud. He turns to Seongwoo. “But it’s true, right? I mean why else would you hide there and look like this, and just be this blushing wreck…”

Seongwoo’s heart thumps. He remembers Sungwoon’s voice, how it hesitated back there in the bathroom when Minhyun asked him about what he wanted to discuss with him. He remembers the letter he wrote to Sungwoon. He remembers his feelings, the feelings that he’s been hiding for _so_ long now—

And then he remembers his best friend.

“…so it’s true, right?” Minhyun asks him.

And Seongwoo does the only intelligent thing he thinks there is.

“Yeah,” he says and it sounds like a death verdict. “It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go, the shit has gone down. minhyun, you are the only one with brain here which i've said in the tags but seriously your shipping googles are tinted af  
thank you so much for finishing the chapter!! let me down in the comments what you think of it, or just anything you want to get off your mind! leave kudos if you liked it and let's prepare ourselves for the chapter numero 4 
> 
> you can look me up on my stan account on twitter @dorkitos if you want, to find out more about the future updates, the fic or just to be thrown into one kpop shit storm


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> under a half-dead cherry tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter four is here! later than i've expected, but i wanted to map out next chapters in advance... so, yeah  
please enjoy reading~
> 
> thank you again for all the sweet comments and kudos you've left!! they keep me motivated to write and finish, so thank you, you guys are the best<333

Seongwoo doesn’t know what he expected really.

They are in front of Seongwoo’s locker, kind of accepting the fact they are going to be extremely late, but Minhyun doesn’t seem to mind that much. Because when Seongwoo told Minhyun he’s dating Kang Daniel, _the_ _guy with his own damn fan club_, Minhyun flips his shit.

“_Damn_.” Minhyun’s almost vibrating on the spot. “And you were planning to tell me when, dumbass?”

“Uh…it hasn’t been that long,” Seongwoo mutters. More like never.

“Still, the fact you’ve felt something for him and never said anything?” Minhyun sighs in disappointment. “I told you I liked Sungwoon almost immediately.”

Yeah, Minhyun. Thanks for that.

“Sorry,” Seongwoo says. He suddenly feels very tired. He changes into his sports clothes and throws his stuff in the locker.

Question: Could he pick a worse guy to fake-date?

Answer: No.

Kang Daniel wasn’t just a guy. He was a freaking image. He was like prince Harry of this whole school, just less ginger and way cuter in Seongwoo’s and probably all his schoolmates’ opinion. Also, less hairy.

But the main thing was, one couldn’t just casually say (lie) that they date Kang Daniel. Because dating Kang Daniel means dealing with his fan club first, dealing with all people in the school, facing the looks and the gossip. Kang Daniel was a topic – a hot one. And one doesn’t say they date Kang Daniel if they, in truth, don’t. Because Kang Daniel’s life (and all those who were associated) was on people’s radar, whether Daniel wanted or not.

Briefly, Seongwoo is a damn fool if he thought he could get away with this.

Once he’s on the field (after getting scolded way too harshly by the PE teacher), Seongwoo feels tiny bit better. He can handle this. He just needs Kang Daniel to know the situation and then he figures it out. He hasn’t survived three years of high-school because he was a total dweeb. He still has some common sense. They can talk. He and Daniel. Seongwoo can talk. Explain. Maybe beg.

“Seongwoo-sunbae?”

Seongwoo watches Kang Daniel on the track field. He’s really good at sports. Daniel’s built doesn’t look like the type for quick or agile, but it still is – Daniel runs like a deer, fast like wind, leaving all his classmates biting dust.

“Seongwoo-sunbae!”

Seongwoo winces really hard that he almost whacks Kim Sejeong in the face with his racquet.

“Oh God,” Seongwoo breathes out and immediately puts it down. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t get you, right?”

Sejeong grins. “Nah, I’m okay. The blow wouldn’t do much damage anyway.” She playfully knocks at her temple. “I have a tough skull.”

Seongwoo laughs at that. “That would make two of us.”

Kim Sejeong was a year younger than him and was also one of his old teammates from the football club he went to. She left the team for choir because football collided with her choir schedule, but she still visited from time to time until the club shut down. Sejeong was their best player and also Seongwoo’s very first crush.

Sejeong is smiling at him brightly and it warms Seongwoo from inside. Sejeong had that effect on people. Seongwoo remembers that it was one of the reasons why he liked her—

Oh.

Wait.

Sejeong is here. Sejeong is here out of blue and striking a conservation, when they haven’t talked in ages – besides _his_ and _hellos _in the hallways. Which can mean only one thing why she’s here.

Seongwoo gulps with great difficulties and forces a smile.

_Be cool. _

He’s getting a cramp into his cheek.

Sejeong looks at him and reaches into her pocket. “I…I got your letter.”

Well.

This day went from minus million to minus infinity real quick. Seongwoo stares at the letter. His _first_ letter. It’ been so long he’s properly seen it. His heart does a painful squeeze. It’s in a yellow envelope and – is there a _Sponge_ _Bob_ sticker in the corner?

“You should know I’ve written that like years ago,” Seongwoo starts before she has a chance to say anything; he blabbers and he knows it, but the words are too big for his mouth and he’s just desperate to explain, explain, _explain_. “Years, _years_ ago. I don’t really remember what I’ve even written – just – don’t – um – ”

Sejeong smiles and it’s a kind smile. “Yeah, I’ve thought so… I mean, you mention your broken leg, that was like when we were twelve or thirteen right?”

“Yeah…” Seongwoo furiously blinks, because his eyes burn and he doesn’t want to cry. “It was sent by accident.”

“Really?” Sejeong seems confused, but then she glances sideways. “It did seem quite personal…”

“It is,” Seongwoo inhales deeply. “I…can I have it back?”

Sejeong looks at him and it speaks volumes. “Of course,” she says softly and takes his hand, carefully putting the letter into his. “It seems like something you should keep,” she says.

“What?”

Sejeong laughs a little. “I know that you were writing it to me and it sounds pretentious when I say it, but I mean it.” Sejeong nods to the letter. “You may have been writing about me, but I could read so much of _you_ between the lines. You should keep it – those years ago, you’ve put something of yourself in there and that’s worth treasuring.”

Seongwoo doesn’t know what to say, but Sejeong seems to know what he can’t find words for, because she only smiles. Then she stands on her tiptoes and gives Seongwoo a light hug. “And you don’t even know how much it means to me – everything you wrote there – I feel grateful,” she says and Seongwoo laughs, blood rushing to his face.

“Oh.” Here he is, planning a seppuku suicide because of his turned-into-wreck-in-a-day life and Kim Sejeong is still the nicest girl on Earth. “I’m sure that everything was true.”

Dear Kim Sejeong,

I don't really know when it started. I think it was somewhen between the first football practice and the broken leg. Or it started way before that? Idk.

I just know that one day you looked even more prettier than ever, with your pig tails and your bright smile and that weird shirt you like so much. When I realized I'm focused on you rather than the ball, I knew that this weird squeezing in my chest was something different than the stuff I feel when I'm with friends.

I’ve always admired the way you were never afraid of anything. Hm. I say afraid of anything but that wasn’t it. You were afraid of course, but you chose to be brave despite being afraid and that's what I like so much about you. You made me want to be brave too - even though I didn't like football and wasn't good at it, you always encourage me and I thank you so much for that. And even now, when I broke my leg, you were the first one to visit me and the one who brought me snacks and stayed with me the whole afternoon just so you could read me a book and then came again the next day to finish it.

It isn’t really surprising that you are almost everyone’s crush – but whether they are popular or dumb-dumbs, you are nice to all of them and never make anyone feel left out. And even though it’s a little bit bittersweet that you are a teeny tiny bit nicer to Oh Sehun and gave him a Snickers bar, it didn’t matter to me that much. You are everything I hope to be and I think that thanks to my love for you I want to become more like you – kinder and nicer, even at times I don’t feel like it and make people feel special in my own way.

To be honest I tried to come up with at least one thing I didn't like about you, but the truth is – there aren't any. You are the perfect girl and I feel somehow really proud and glad that you were my first love.

Thank you.

Ong Seongwoo

When PE ends, Seongwoo dreads going to the lockers, because he’s sure Sungwoon will be waiting for him there. Seongwoo doesn’t feel prepared for the we-need-to-talk kind of conversation, but honestly, when will he ever be?

Minhyun locks their arms on the way there, bombarding him with questions about Daniel, which does not help with lifting up Seongwoo’s mood.

“Who made the first move? And when did you kiss? Is he a good kisser? I bet he is. And what—”

“Nyeon-ah,” Seongwoo says tiredly. “Can we, like… talk about it later? I – uh… Daniel doesn’t want anyone to know.” Because sadly, even his said boyfriend doesn’t know they’re apparently dating yet.

Minhyun frowns. “Why? Is he like embarrassed or something?”

“No,” Seongwoo replies and slows down his pace. Maybe Sungwoon would give up waiting for them, if they show up late. “He’s just… you know. Shy. And because he’s Kang Daniel, if you know what I mean.”

Minhyun’s face immediately falls and seems to understand him perfectly. Seongwoo lets out a sigh of relief (and victory). “Yeah, I forgot. The Kang Daniel club will want to murder you. And then there’s the whole school…”

Right. Did Seongwoo mention that Kang Daniel’s life was a pretty big deal to everybody? Seongwoo needs to get out of this mess and unfortunately, his best friend can’t even help him. Seongwoo rubs his forehead. Minhyun is giving him the pity eyes and Seongwoo feels sweat trickling down his back.

“Yeah,” Seongwoo says feebly. “Exactly.”

Minhyun speeds up. “Come on. Sungwoon says he won’t meet us at the lockers, but we’ll see him at lunch. I don’t want to miss maths, slowpoke.”

Seongwoo feels his body lighten. So. He has approximately four hours until lunch time. That’s plenty of time to prepare a believable story about Sungwoon’s letter. He could start maybe with ‘_Oh, Sungwoon. Hey, what’s that? A letter? Hahaha, what a joke… you see. It’s not true. It’s super old. If I still…? What? Nooooo…?’_

Seongwoo sighs.

He’ll work on it.

“And you will have to tell me little _something_,” Minhyun suddenly says and Seongwoo almost jumps out of his skin. “About Daniel. I’m not letting you off that easily – and yeah, yeah, he doesn’t want anyone to know, but although he’s your boyfriend – _you_ are his boyfriend too. You get to brag at least to your BFF, no?”

Seongwoo laughs uneasily. “Yeah. Brag.”

Also, four hours to solve the fatass lie Seongwoo made up about being a Kang Daniel’s brand new boyfriend.

Seongwoo doesn’t really know what schedule of Daniel’s class is like, but he sure has connections. When his friend Choi Minki strides out to the hallway with a banana milk in his hand during the break, Seongwoo jumps to him and hopes for not sounding too desperate.

“Minki-yah! Hey –”

Minki makes a tired face and shakes Seongwoo off his arm. “Ugh. What do you want.”

“I love seeing you too, bud. Hey, I kinda—”

“—need a favour. So, again. What do you want.”

Seongwoo sighs. Since the moment Minki was stuck with juniors in a class, being held back because he had missed too many classes, he’s been pricklier than before. “Wahh. So cold.”

“I’ve been told. What do you want.”

“Your timetable,” Seongwoo says and tries to keep his voice calm. “I need your timetable.”

“If you want to confess, you don’t need to wait for my classes to end,” Minki deadpans. “I can give you my answer right now. No.”

“Shove it, ass,” Seongwoo snorts. “I don’t need it for _you_.”

“Oh,” Minki says, totally unbothered. “Then who’re you stalking?”

“No one,” Seongwoo hisses. “Just give me the timetable, would you?”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t, your Pristin sticker collection will make a very public appearance,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth and raises his eyebrows. “Dongho told me.”

“Fucker,” Minki only sighs. “Fine. Wait here, you little shit.”

Seongwoo may be dumb as a stick when it comes to equations and multiple variables x, y, z – but he sure gathered some of the street smarts. As Minki so accurately pointed out: he is a little shit. It takes Minki less than a minute to reappear with a paper in his hand. “Here. But don’t be creepy, whoever it is, okay? They’re still my classmate and I absolutely don’t want to take responsibility for your stalker issues.”

“I’m not stalking anyone,” Seongwoo mumbles, already studying the timetable. It’s a tornado of Minki’s horrible handwriting, but Seongwoo guesses he could decipher it in ten minutes or so, if he’s lucky. “You couldn’t have a printed out timetable? Like everyone else?”

“That one’s mine. This one I used for like a day before my printer started working again.”

“Alright I guess. Thanks.”

“Good luck with your stalking. Hope you’ll get caught.”

“I’m not _stalking_.”

“Sure, Jan. See ya.”

Seongwoo shakes his head. Why does he even bother to have friends, really? He glances at the paper and scans through the mess to find a gap in Daniel’s timetable. There’s one right after the third period and Seongwoo decides that better to solve it quickly than to let it rot.

The whole third period Seongwoo spends as if sitting on nails – fidgeting and jumping around. It’s horrible just having to listen to whatever teacher says and actually try to absorb it, when all he can think about is the imminent doom coming for him.

The bell sounds like hell’s choir and Seongwoo gets up heavily, taking a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

He’s about to walk (very calmly and cooly) out of the classroom, when suddenly someone catches him by the arm. “Hey,” Minhyun watches him warily as he looks Seongwoo up and down. His face is concerned. “You don’t seem well. Are you okay?”

“Um,” Seongwoo starts. He’s about to give his made-up boyfriend Kang Daniel the news that they are apparently a couple. So. Not exactly thriving. “I’m just tired. I pulled a Goblin marathon yesterday.”

“You’re sad and pathetic,” Minhyun says and shakes his head. “You don’t want to stop by the infirmary though? I’m sure I could manage to get you some aspirin or candies. The nurse likes me.”

“Who doesn’t,” Seongwoo snorts. “But nah, I’m fine.”

“Where are you going then? We don’t have a long break.”

“Just.” Seongwoo randomly gesticulates towards the court yard. “For a breather.”

Minhyun raises an eyebrow, but then he smirks. “Yeaaah. A breather. Does the breather starts with a _da_ and ends with _niel_?”

Seongwoo for some stupid reason flushes and Minhyun laughs out loud. “Go. You blush like a high-schooler.”

“I _am_ a high-schooler. And I’m not blushing – it’s not like that.”

“Whatever. Don’t make him wait.”

Seongwoo sighs. If he’s ever going to get a boyfriend, he’s never telling Minhyun. If he’s this annoying with Seongwoo’s fake-boyfriend, what it would be like once Seongwoo gets a legit one?

He waves Minhyun off and strides towards Daniel’s class. The door is open and Seongwoo can hear a lot of shouting voices. The neighbouring class is seemingly trying to one-up Daniel’s one in terms of noise and is clearly winning – there is a voice especially high and ear-pulling and Seongwoo grimaces when it starts singing the Titanic soundtrack.

“_My heart will go ooooooon_!”

Kim Jaehwan. Seongwoo scratches his temple tiredly. Hard to believe he wrote that guy a letter too. Weak three weeks Seongwoo had there. But he can deal with Jaehwan later. Seongwoo braces himself and steps into the class. The first one who spots him is Minki. Unfortunately. Seongwoo gives him an awkward wave just to see Minki mouth ‘_stalker’_. Seongwoo shakes his head at him and flips him a bird and the only thing Minki does is shrug his shoulders and return to his manhwa book.

Kang Daniel sits in the far back corner surrounded by _a_ _lot_ of people – because how could he not be. There is also his mini fan club, at least the very loyal core because Seongwoo can only count up to four people, which is few.

“Um,” Seongwoo carefully makes his way to the back of the classroom. “Um, Daniel?”

“Hyung!” Park Jihoon materializes out of nowhere and throws his arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders. “Fancy seeing you here! What’s up?”

Seongwoo only manages to shove him away a little (Jihoon _was_ kinda invading his personal space), when Daniel’s voice cuts through, cheerful and clear. “Sunbae, what are you doing here?”

“Er,” Seongwoo says and then mentally slaps himself. “I mean… Eunji wanted to speak to you. I bumped into her in the hallway, sent me to fetch you.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll be out in a second,” Daniel says and gets up from his seat, brushing off invisible dirt from his trousers. The four of the Daniel-fan club whine and he throws them a look Seongwoo can only decode as apologetic and clearly uncomfortable. “I… uh, I’ll be back in a minute.” They brighten up and Daniel uneasily grabs his nape, smiling a little. Seongwoo suppresses a groan. God. Kang Daniel should _really_ grow some backbone.

“What about me?” Park Jihoon pouts. “Eunji-noona didn’t ask for me?”

“No,” Seongwoo says mercilessly, ignoring Jihoon’s crestfallen face. “No need to discuss anything.”

“I mean she could call for me just to say hi,” Jihoon mutters and hops on Daniel’s desk. “But whatever. Say hi from me to her then.”

“I will,” Seongwoo lies easily, waving at Daniel to follow him. “Bye.”

Once they’re in the hallway, Daniel looks around, confused. “Where’s Eunji-noona?”

“Not here,” Seongwoo only mumbles and tugs at Daniel’s sleeve. “That was just an excuse—”

“Damn,” Daniel watches him with a really funny look and if Seongwoo weren’t shit at reading people, he would say that it was… amazed? “You’re a _really_ good actor.”

“That’s a first one,” Seongwoo says and starts down the hallway, Daniel close at his tail. Seongwoo needs to find a place where he could explain the very awkward situation to the other – something private but not _too_ private, because the letter thing is still fresh and Seongwoo can’t really talk to Daniel for too long without feeling embarrassed.

“Really? I’m surprised you haven’t stayed in the theatre club,” Daniel continues and shoves his hands into his pockets. They exit the school, going outside to the school yard. “You certainly got the talent.”

“I…uh, thanks?” Seongwoo feels distracted but upon hearing Daniel’s compliment, it’s like something lights up in his brain. He went to the drama club for only about two weeks back in sophomore year, because the teacher nagged him about taking up more extracurriculars but Seongwoo quickly gave up after finding out the drama club had this weird training period and he wouldn’t touch a script, let alone act, for a few months.

Acting. Huh. Him? Well, Seongwoo always _did_ enjoy the –

Wait, what are they even _talking_ about? How come Daniel suddenly analyses him the way he’s doing just now? However, Seongwoo can’t help but think that it’s… nice. Hearing from someone that he has a talent for something – it’s nice. Seongwoo’s never found out whether he’d be good at the acting thing but now Daniel mentions it, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea to try again – not a bad idea at all. It sounds… exciting.

“—so, what did you want to talk about? How about we go over there?”

Seongwoo flinches. Daniel halts in his steps and heads towards the basketball court. There’s no one there and Daniel points towards a bench which sits lonely under a half-dead cherry tree. It’s also way past the bloom period so it’s just a mess of a tangled branches and leaves, with ugly black and brown bark. People carved a lot of nonsense into the wood of the bench too and Seongwoo always felt he would have to burn his pants after sitting there. Daniel, however, is already striding over, patting the empty space next to him and there’s nothing for Seongwoo to do but follow.

“Is this about the letter?” Daniel asks him once Seongwoo’s sitting down. “This is not like a…”

Seongwoo will really punch his face if Daniel dares to think just for a second that this is a confession.

Daniel doesn’t seem to notice his darkening aura because he continues. “I mean… we’ve never really talked much before the letter thing. So I’m curious.”

“What happened to the ‘forgotten’ you’ve promised me?” Seongwoo sighs and stretches his legs out in front of him. The bench is disgusting, but it’s not as bad as Seongwoo remembers. It looks like it got a new paint-over, so the words like ‘F U’ or just drawings of dicks are less visible than they once were.

“Sorry,” Daniel says immediately, looking away. And he does look sorry, Seongwoo notices – the way Daniel’s eyes stare at the ground between his feet, Seongwoo can tell Daniel means it. “I just…” Daniel laughs a little. “I just never got something like that before.”

“Go figure.” Seongwoo face palms. “This kind of stuff people don’t just send out.”

“You did,” Daniel so kindly reminds him. Fucker.

“I told you before! It was an accident.”

“Okay.”

“But it surprises me,” Seongwoo says. “With your fan club and all—”

“It’s not a fan club.”

“—I would bet my house, you had like tons of love letters stashed daily in your locker.”

Daniel smiles. “Notes – yeah. Gifts. Chocolates. Cards. But never anything like your letter.” He chuckles. “It was just surprising… and nice. That’s all.”

Seongwoo’s face heats up. Marvellous. Now how the hell should he bring up _the thing_ after all this.

Daniel must have read his mind because he asks. “But you needed to talk to me. What is it?”

“I… um.” Seongwoo really thinks of this one. Shouldn’t he have done some research first? Seongwoo doubts there is a wiki page or a quora forum on this problem though. Daniel is looking at him and his eyes are so warm and Seongwoo remembers the way they always managed to melt him inside out in matter of seconds. God, they still do – because even though Seongwoo had a crush on him like trillion years ago, it’s _still_ Kang Daniel. The school’s most gorgeous sight to look at.

“Sunbae?”

“Well. I did something stupid. But first you must now it doesn’t have anything to do with the letter I’ve sent you. I mean, it does a little but not the way you probably think. Like, hell no. But the thing is – Ha Sungwoon is my best friend’s boyfriend so he’s off limits, you know? But now that the letters are sent, I’m massively screwed because he will know I have feelings for him, which means I had to do what I did—” Seongwoo’s tongue is a waterslide for stupid words, but there’s nothing to do really but to ramble on. “—and that’s why I lied about something that I shouldn’t have lied about, because it didn’t involve just me but it involved you too, and – I’m sorry.”

Daniel stares at him, face scrunched as if he was looking at an alien trying to understand their language. “Um. Okay. So…what exactly did you lie about? And why does it matter that Ha Sungwoon…” Daniel’s voice trails off. “Wait a minute. You have a _crush_ on _him_?”

Great. Seongwoo forgot that he meant to leave that part out but now that he thinks about it, it wouldn’t make much sense without it. “I…um, sort of. Yeah?”

Daniel gives him a pity look. “That’s rough. I mean, your best friend’s boyfriend…”

“I know,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“No, what I meant is…” Daniel scratches the back of his head. “What I mean is – it must have been hard.”

“I…guess.” Seongwoo feels weird. He’s never had the opportunity to discuss his unrequited loves and it feels just weird and strange to receive sympathy. “But the thing is I lied about something. Something that was kinda about you.”

Daniel bobs his head. “And that is…?”

Seongwoo inhales and exhales. “I… Sungwoon…you heard in the bathroom. He got his letter.” Daniel nods slowly and Seongwoo takes it as a sign to continue. “Well…you see why he can’t ever think…that I like him.”

“Obviously.”

“So, when I left that bathroom in the morning—”

“You didn’t leave. You literally took off.”

“Details. Well, after I left I bumped into Minhyun.”

“Yeah,” Daniel says and leans against the back of the bench. “I saw you. So?”

“Well…” Seongwoo chooses to stare at Daniel’s shoes. Here comes the tricky part. “I’ve… well, Minhyun…he kind of assumed that we had a hot make-out session in the toilet booth.”

Seongwoo doesn’t expect anything in particular, but the way Daniel chokes and coughs makes him think he could have chosen different vocabulary. “Oi. You okay?”

“I-uh,” Daniel laughs a little, his cheeks colouring pink. “How did he even get the idea?”

“My hair was a mess. You were fixing your shirt. We were together in one toilet booth and played no one’s home,” Seongwoo sighs exasperatedly. “But that’s not important. Will you let me finish?”

“Sorry. Go on.”

“Well…he assumed we were together. Like _together_ together.” Seongwoo’s heart jumps into his throat. “And then he texted Sungwoon about it…”

“Oh,” is the only thing Daniel says.

“Yeah. And I just couldn’t…”

“You said we _were_ dating,” Daniel concludes and frowns. “You didn’t tell him it wasn’t true.”

“No…” Seongwoo wipes his hands in his pants. God. This is going fantastically. Just like he imagined it would. “I couldn’t let Sungwoon think… or find out about me, so I’ve… supported the assumption?”

Daniel stares at him and Seongwoo immediately catches the way Daniel’s cheek muscle keeps on twitching. Hell. What if Seongwoo just managed to get _the_ Kang Daniel pissed off? The embodiment of rays of sunshine, the sweet kiddo from the junior class? What if he’s about to deck Seongwoo for spouting lies and shit about him?

Daniel doesn’t seem like someone who’s ready to smash Seongwoo’s face into a pulp though. Seongwoo carefully watches as Daniel just shyly avoids his eyes, before replying. “I…uh. I get it. You… needed to save your face, right?”

“Yeah… but I’m sorry. It was selfish,” Seongwoo sighs. “I’m in a really complicated situation—”

And that’s when Seongwoo spots him.

Sungwoon stands under the basketball hoop, face scrunched into a confused expression as he stares from Seongwoo to Daniel. He doesn’t appear to notice that Seongwoo’s seen him though, because he makes no signs of moving. He just stands there and Seongwoo’s stomach squeezes in the most horrible way possible.

Sungwoon’s holding a yellow envelope.

_Seongwoo’s_ yellow envelope.

Daniel is saying something and Seongwoo slowly turns back his attention to him. “—so, you don’t need to apologize. I mean you could just—”

Seongwoo doesn’t get to hear what he could just do, because he decides on the spot, panic and fear filling up his chest, the image of Sungwoon holding his letter burnt bright into his brain. “Daniel – I’m really sorry for this too—” he whispers frantically and cups Daniel’s face.

Daniel’s eyes widen in surprise but he does nothing to push him away. “What are you—”

He doesn’t get to say any more, because it’s that moment Seongwoo leans in and kisses him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's more romantic than kissing on an ugly bench under a half-dead tree, right. poor dani boy, getting confused again bc seongwoo keeps sending out some seriously mixed signals
> 
> please, let me know down in the comments what you think of the chapter!! leave kudos if you've liked it as i've enjoyed writing it for you<333 thank you so much for reading!!! tune in for the next chapter~ 
> 
> (hope you liked minki's character, because that dialogue he had with seongwoo was so fuuuun to write) (and yes, sejeong's the ultimate girl crush material)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cats, cats, cats and a sprinkle of business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! editing took more time than i've expected and uni's kicking my butt, but! chapter five is complete and finally posted~
> 
> also, i want to apologize for answering your comments so late (the reason is the uni kicking my butt thing) and thank you so much for the love and support you're showering me and the fic with!! i'm so grateful and touched that every word i write has to be proofread like two times so it would be worth it<3
> 
> please enjoy reading!!

Seongwoo thought a lot about kissing.

Not in the pervy way – just… scientifically.

Seongwoo thought a lot about it, because it was a very strange concept. To like someone this much to give them a little power over your body – to let them make you feel lightheaded, to let them touch you this intimately.

Of course there was this sex thing, but kissing was something different. It was like a starting line. Where you should start and where the sex should start. The gate to an intimate, physical side of the relationship.

Seongwoo’s never kissed anyone – the letter thing might be a dead giveaway but he even refused to kiss people, when they were playing spin the bottle or other stupid shit. Seongwoo thought he should kiss only when he means it.

His values went out of the window the moment he saw Sungwoon with the letter.

Kissing was something Seongwoo imagined. His first kiss was something he hoped for.

But kissing Kang Daniel was like hoping for a bike and then be given a freaking Harley.

His lips are soft. Seongwoo feels Daniel’s breathing on his own cheeks, feels it fanning through his eyelashes. It’s a careful kiss, light and gentle, letting Daniel plenty of space to just shove him away, but Seongwoo’s heart quickens, when Daniel stays completely frozen, doing neither of those things.

When Seongwoo pulls away, Daniel looks at him, confusion spreading across his whole face. “What…”

“I…” Seongwoo’s voice is hoarse, when he tries to speak. “I – I gotta go.”

“What?”

Seongwoo glances to the place where Sungwoon was standing, just to find him there gaping and open-mouthed.

“I have classes,” Seongwoo mutters and gets up. “I’ll… catch you later.” Or never.

“But—” Daniel seems to be still in shock by the time Seongwoo dashes across the basketball court yard, breaking into a run.

Who would have ever thought that there might come a day when Ong Seongwoo actually _runs_ to get back into his classroom?

When Seongwoo bursts into the classroom all eyes turn to him.

His classmates are glued to the windows with their mouths hanging open and Seongwoo thinks _Well, shit._

Minhyun sits on his desk, grinning like an idiot. He hops off the table and walks over to Seongwoo, linking their arms together. “Wah! You are a wild one, Ong.” He then nods at their classmates. “Stop staring, you weirdos. Never seen people who date kiss?”

Seongwoo would throw himself out of a window if only Minhyun weren’t holding him back by their locked arms. “I – Minhyun…”

“Ong, it’s no use now,” Minhyun says cheerfully. “They all saw you, you know –” Minhyun purses his lips as if kissing the air. “Seen you do the lip dance.”

“Ong, is it really _true_?” It’s one of his classmates. “I mean… _Kang Daniel_, damn.”

“Tell me it isn’t!” That’s one of the girls from neighbouring class. A freshman? Seongwoo’s not really sure. She has a whiny voice, when she continues. “Kang Daniel-oppa can’t be dating!”

“I—”

“Hey!”

Seongwoo turns around and his heart almost explodes. Kang Daniel stands in the door, his chest rising and falling, as if he were running. And he probably was. “Seongwoo – can we—”

Suddenly, a teacher appears right by Daniel’s side, slightly frowning. “Kang Daniel-ah.” Seongwoo might kiss their maths teacher, when he’s all about kissing today anyway. Daniel turns to the teacher and Seongwoo just partly realizes the way the teacher has to tilt his head back, because that’s just how tall Daniel is. “What are you doing here, Daniel-ah? This class doesn’t have a free period. Go to your classroom.”

Daniel straightens. “Oh, I’m sorry, seonsaegnim…”

The teacher smiles. “No worries. Off you go.”

It’s so _Kang Daniel situation_ right here – the way the teacher doesn’t even think about smiling at him, doesn’t even think that Daniel would do anything remotely wrong. And Seongwoo _knows_ Daniel didn’t do anything wrong – but it’s kind of funny, the fact that Kang Daniel could probably get away with a murder.

And his lips were so soft.

Seongwoo’s breath hitches. He’s so fucking _screwed_.

“I…” Daniel starts and glances at Seongwoo.

_Go_. _Please. _Seongwoo prays and he wishes the girl who asked him about dating Daniel would stop sniffling.

“Daniel-ah? You forgot something here or—” the teacher sounds worried now. “I’m sure your friends can help you look for it after—”

“No, seonsaegnim, it’s…nothing,” Daniel laughs a little and bows. “I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

“Please, don’t apologize,” the teacher says and Seongwoo suppresses a snort. Yeah, like a teacher would ever tell _him_ something like this. “Just don’t be late to your class, alright?”

“Daniel-oppa!” It’s the sniffling girl from before and Seongwoo freezes. “Is it true you’re going out with—with—” she whines. “Because if you are, how could you do something like—” she chokes back a sob and Seongwoo can’t fucking believe this. Is she really _crying_? Seongwoo would do everything just to shut her up – if she’s going to talk to Daniel, can she do it at least somewhere without the whole class _including_ their teacher staring? And anyways, is the image of Kang Daniel dating something to be bawling over this much? It’s not like it’s the extinction of penguins or global warming, gee.

Daniel flushes slightly, his face one panicked question mark. “I—” Then he sends Seongwoo a weird look, a strange mix of thoughtfulness and surprise before he takes off.

And the only thing Seongwoo can really focus on is his classmates’ whispering and Minhyun’s giggles as he pokes Seongwoo’s shoulder. “Woah, Seongwoo, you have a wild love life, lol. Never thought this day would come.”

So. Apparently the news of Seongwoo kissing Kang Daniel spread through school in matter of one hour.

Seongwoo’s newspaper club group chat is blowing up with new messages, all his club mates throwing his @ to find out _what the fuck is happening_. Seongwoo is really glad they haven’t got the chance to add their newest members yet, because he’s sure Daniel wouldn’t appreciate that.

Not that Daniel could appreciate anything Seongwoo’s done these days, and Seongwoo can’t really blame him.

People steal glances at him and the shushing noises are following Seongwoo wherever he goes.

“It’s like you’re a celebrity or something,” Minhyun says. “Which you kinda are now. It’s like you’re dating the pope. Or Beyoncé.”

“Shut up,” Seongwoo mutters.

Minhyun raises his hands. “Okay. Why are we hiding in the gym though?”

Seongwoo forced his best friend to come with him to the gym to avoid all the stares and unwanted attention. Daniel’s fan club must have already planned out his murder and Seongwoo wants to survive until the end of this week, thank you very much.

Also, bumping into Sungwoon is not really the top of his bucket list.

“Just because.” Seongwoo slides against the wall onto the floor. He buries his head in his hands. “God. I really did it, didn’t I?”

Minhyun laughs lightly and sits down next to him. “You mean smooching Daniel for everyone to see he’s yours? Yeah, you did.”

Seongwoo wants to scream. And then jump under the bus.

He _kissed_ Daniel.

And Sungwoon still has his letter.

What the hell is this mess? Kim Sejeong now knows she was his first crush. Seongwoo’s damn lucky she was so nice about it and that the whole encounter wasn’t as awkward and scarring as he’d expected. However, it’s only a matter of time before Kim Jonghyun gets his letter… but Jonghyun is now in Seoul, so it’s not likely he would even bother with Seongwoo’s letter. Hopefully.

But for fuck’s sake, Kim Jaehwan will find out and he on the other hand will _never_ let Seongwoo live it down. Then there’s this Kang Daniel mess he created and Daniel will surely not let it just slide and fuck, Sungwoon will want to talk about this, and then Minhyun – God. Then Minhyun will confront him and Seongwoo won’t survive his best friend being hurt because of all this.

And he just kissed Daniel in front of everyone and the whole school will be coming for him.

“Ong, don’t worry about it too much, it’ll work out.” Seongwoo almost forgets Minhyun is right next to him until his friend puts a comforting hand around his shoulders. “Daniel is just a human too. His fans may be hostile now, but they’ll get over it eventually. It was just a matter of time, and they knew it.” Minhyun smiles. “And Daniel couldn’t have possibly chosen a better person than you.”

Seongwoo smiles sadly.

Thank God for his best friend. Seongwoo loves him so much that he almost forgives him for being such a naïve, sweet bitch. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Oh and I texted Sungwoon we’re here,” Minhyun continues. “I don’t want him to look for us in the cafeteria.”

“Oh,” Seongwoo says feebly. “Yeah, that would be… unfortunate.”

A little while later, slow steps echo through the empty gym. “Nyeon? Ong, you here?”

Minhyun calls out. “We’re over here, Woon-ah.”

Sungwoon carefully approaches them, his face an impenetrable mask. “Why aren’t you in the cafeteria?”

Seongwoo avoids Sungwoon’s gaze altogether and murmurs something incoherent, but Minhyun saves him by saying. “You really don’t know? It’s because of Seongwoo’s sudden infame.”

“Oh, yeah…” Sungwoon’s voice trails off and Seongwoo could feel his eyes blowing a hole into his head. Does Sungwoon believe it? And more importantly – does _this_, the lie, negate Seongwoo’s letter?

Because if not, then kissing Daniel was all in vain.

_Apart from the fact I got my first kiss just like that._

“Nyeon-ah,” Sungwoon suddenly says. “I think Dongho was looking for you though… something about vice president and homework textbooks—”

“Shit!” Minhyun jumps to his feet. “I forgot I was supposed to distribute them in the class.” Minhyun squeezes Seongwoo’s shoulder one last time, whispering _Don’t worry, doofus, okay?, _presses a light kiss to Sungwoon’s temple and dashes out of the gym.

Seongwoo shifts his weight.

Okay.

Sungwoon and him. Alone. Here. Sungwoon has his letter. Okay. Okay.

Not Okay.

Seongwoo could die, but that would be too easy.

“Seongwoo…” Sungwoon’s voice is levelled, but Seongwoo can detect a little bit of emotion there, hidden under the layers. Confusion? Wondering? “I…got the letter.”

He doesn’t say _your_ letter, just _the_ letter and somehow it all seems worse that way, because he’s implying Seongwoo knows all about this, and it’s as if he’s saying upfront _you wrote it and I want to know why_.

“You did,” Seongwoo says and he’s surprised he sounds calm and not at all nervous. Huh. Maybe he was so stressed out that he overcame the worst and now he’s like empty of all the feelings. Kind of like stressing about an important exam for weeks, and then the moment you’re given the answer sheet all that nervousness somehow slips away and there’s only the task to be done. “I know, you did…but…” he takes a deep breath. “…it was… sent by accident—”

“Really? But what does it mean, Seongwoo?” Sungwoon asks him and Seongwoo knows Sungwoon hates it – hates not being in control, not knowing the situation, not knowing the facts from the start. “I just, I’m confused – when did you…” Sungwoon sighs in frustration. “When I first read it I thought it’s recent – you mention the beginning of the senior year there. And now there’s just this whole talk about you and Kang Daniel – where the hell did that come from? I mean I saw you kiss him… I saw it right, didn’t I?”

“I…” Seongwoo bites his lip.

He’s saying it – God, after all this time, he’ll really _say_ it. “It was true. It was. I… _had_ feelings for you. Past tense. But it’s long gone history – I …fell out of it. And I met… Daniel.”

Why is he doing this? Supporting his lie with other lies? Maybe he really could go with that acting career. He’s good at lying to everyone he knows and cares about. Seongwoo wants to punch himself in the face, if only he didn’t like his own face so much. “And yeah, you did see it right. I _did_ kiss him.”

Well, at least that one’s true.

Sungwoon’s staring at him and Seongwoo’s heart does a leap. His best friend’s boyfriend Ha Sungwoon, Seongwoo has to remind himself. _Your best friend’s boyfriend_.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sungwoon asks then, his voice gentle.

Seongwoo stares at his shoes. “I don’t know.” _Because of Minhyun._

“I’m sorry,” Sungwoon suddenly says. “I’m sorry I haven’t realized and made you…you’re one of my best friends, Seongwoo.”

“Back at you,” Seongwoo says. Even if he still has some feelings for Sungwoon, there’s no doubt that Sungwoon is his friend first, crush second. Sungwoon coughs a little and the sound echoes through the emptiness of the gym.

“So… you don’t… like me that way anymore?”

The question was long incoming, but Seongwoo flinches anyway. The frankness feels suffocating and the moment of silence is heavy. Seongwoo finally musters up the courage he has left and looks Sungwoon in the eyes. They are wide and questioning and Seongwoo lies one more time, trying not to follow the elegant bow of Sungwoon’s lower lip.

“No, I don’t.”

Sungwoon looks a bit sceptical, but then as if he realized something, he grins. “Man, of course you don’t. I almost forgot you’re dating _the_ Kang Daniel.” The look of relief on Sungwoon’s face shouldn’t hurt this much, but it does. Sungwoon exhales and his body relaxes as he stretches his legs out next to Seongwoo. “Okay.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Does Minhyun know about the letter?”

Seongwoo’s heart stops. “No.”

“Oh, and—”

“Please. Don’t tell him,” Seongwoo says, willing his voice not to shake. “It’s… you know. Awkward.”

There’s approximately 10 seconds of complete silence, before Sungwoon shrugs. “Okay. Sure.”

Seongwoo’s chest eases a little, and he feels like he can breathe again. “Thanks.”

“So…” Sungwoon tilts his head. “We’re good right?”

Seongwoo almost laughs at this. The whole situation is ridiculous. “Yeah. We’re good.”

Sungwoon nods happily and Seongwoo didn’t know a heart could break more times than once in just ten seconds.

“Huh, then. You and Kang Daniel?” Sungwoon cackles. “Hell, how did that form?”

“I…” Seongwoo doesn’t want to talk to Sungwoon now. He can only take this much. “Now that you reminded me, I should actually go see him.” Lies are coming to him so easily. Was it always like this?

“Wait, what?” Sungwoon sounds hurt, but to be honest Seongwoo can’t really bring himself to care. “I mean I’m one of your best friends and I had to find out about you and your rock star boyfriend from Minhyun through _a_ _text_ and from Minki’s gossiping ass?”

“I just, I have to go,” Seongwoo says hastily and gets up from the ground. He thinks that he can take only so much pain and looking at his crush’s face does not help. “Just… see you.”

“Seongwoo, wait!” Sungwoon calls out and Seongwoo, the weakling, halts. Of course he stops.

“What?”

“Say… hi to Daniel for me,” Sungwoon says. “I mean he’s your boyfriend now. We _will_ want to get to know him.”

Seongwoo laughs, but he’s not really laughing. He’s freaking dying. “Of course you would.”

The day ends just like that.

The whole school talks about him, pointing fingers at him and covering their mouths to keep the voices down to a whisper. Seongwoo hides in the bathrooms and out in the courtyard, finding only company in the wind and the latest tweets from Day6’s Jay.

When the final class is finished, he says quick bye to Minhyun, assuring him he’s fine and bolts. He doesn’t want to bump into Kang Daniel or worse, his army of love-sick fans, as he makes a run for the school gates.

Seongwoo’s logic was always rather simple: ignore the problem until it eventually (hopefully) goes away.

It doesn’t really work out at that moment.

“Here you are,” Daniel says as soon as Seongwoo walks through the gates out in the street. “I was looking for you, sunbae.”

“You were?” Seongwoo’s going for the nonchalant tone, because he’s still a little shit with a drop of reputation to uphold.

Daniel’s corners twitch as he scratches his head. “Yeah. It’s like you’ve disappeared from the face of the earth when I left your classroom this morning.”

“Ah, you know,” Seongwoo laughs a little. _Shit shit shit_. “School’s big.”

“Surprisingly I noticed that only now, when trying to find you,” is Daniel’s only reply.

Seongwoo knows he should deal with this like an adult – but his brain is fried. His eyes involuntarily slide down to Daniel’s lips. They’re pink and plump, and soft just from a look alone. They’re nice.

_I kissed those lips._

Seongwoo cringes. It’s not really fair. The whole school is assigned to wear all-too-simple uniform, but on Kang Daniel’s form the clothes look like something straight from Vogue collection. Daniel’s wide shoulders, slim waist and those _infinite_ legs – Seongwoo grimly thinks that all this should be like, illegal. No wonder the whole school’s after him. He dared to kiss a fucking deity.

“I guess we could talk, right?” Daniel asks, sounding suddenly sheepish. “About…the morning?”

“Um…” _How about no?_ “Okay.” Seongwoo looks around and sees death glares being thrown his way. “Not here, though.”

Seongwoo was planning to go just around the corner or something, as there is not that much to talk about. He kind of plans just to make up a real sob story and try begging Kang Daniel not to expose his sorry ass, and then make Daniel tell instead they were dating for like a week and then they can split tomorrow or something.

Very simple.

Seongwoo isn’t really looking forward to the begging part, but his sad existence can’t really expect much to save his dignity in this shit he’s created.

He grabs Daniel by the sleeve of his jacket and tries to ignore the squealing of their classmates that follows. “Let’s go—”

Daniel, however, turns towards the squealing crowd, before looking at Seongwoo and interrupting him. “Wait. We could go to a café,” Daniel says. “I know a place.”

And suddenly it’s _Daniel_ dragging _Seongwoo_ away and Seongwoo really questions all his life decisions.

The place Daniel chooses is very nice – it’s a small cat café with a cosy little garden, walls painted light yellow and well, with cats absolutely _everywhere_. There are cats on the sofa, under the tables, on the tables, lying on the floor in the sunlight by the windows. There are big cats, small cats, black ones, white ones, with reddish fur and furs of unspecified colours, cats fat and lean, old cats and small kittens playing with balls of yarn.

Daniel looks really at home – he greets the owner like an old friend and pets almost every cat in the café, cooing and talking to them, before he waves at Seongwoo to join him at the table far back in the corner.

“Um…” Seongwoo uneasily shifts his weight on the chair. A tabby cat looking like it could crush his foot just by sitting on it, rubs its head against his leg, purring. “You brought me here without asking if I’m allergic?”

Daniel whips his head, face gone as white as sheet, his features twisted in sheer panic. “_Shit_! God, fuck, are you—”

Seongwoo laughs. “I’m kidding, dude. I love cats.”

It’s almost cute how quickly Daniel’s expression of pure horror transforms into a relieved smile as he laughs, picking up the menu from the holder. “_God_. You scared the shit out of me…”

“Sorry.” Seongwoo looks sideways. “And… sorry for this morning too.”

Daniel looks up from the menu. “Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk about. What the heck was that? I thought you said you didn’t have any feelings for—”

“I _don’t_.” Seongwoo almost screams it, but holds himself back. “I don’t, really.”

“Then you kiss guys randomly?” Daniel inquires and sets down the menu. “Just according to the mood?”

“No, asshole,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. He takes the menu too and skims through the offer. “It was because…”

Daniel leans down and scratches a brown cat behind its ears. “I’m listening.”

Shit. Daniel knows all about the whole Sungwoon issue, so Seongwoo just might as well tell him the deal. “It was because Sungwoon came to the basketball court when we were talking there. He had the letter… I panicked.”

“Again? The dude you’re crushing on?”

“_Shhhhh_!” Seongwoo looks around and hisses. “Don’t talk so loudly—”

“Relax, sunbae,” Daniel snort-laughs. Is everything a joke to him? Why does he always laugh? “There’s no one who would be interested.”

Seongwoo can’t really argue with that – most of their classmates hang out at PC rooms and cafes in the centre of the town. The cat café seems to be more out of way and also more frequented by older people, judging from the only two elderly customers sitting at the front.

“Whatever,” Seongwoo murmurs and puts down the menu, finished choosing. A middle-aged woman rushes over and takes down their order, smiling and complimenting them how good-looking both of them are. Daniel laughs along with her and Seongwoo can see from the casual atmosphere that this isn’t Daniel’s first time here – he must be a regular.

When the lady leaves, Seongwoo busies himself by looking from one cat to another and tries to figure out why would Daniel even take him to this café, when they could have solved everything in ten minutes somewhere in the street on their way home.

“So…the situation,” Daniel suddenly says and stops Seongwoo’s train of thoughts. “Basically you have told your friends we’re dating.”

“Um…” Seongwoo flushes. “Basically. Yes.”

“Then,” Daniel leans his head against his right palm. His blond hair catch the sunlight in all the right ways and Seongwoo can’t believe that even _the sun_ is on Kang Daniel’s side. “Then you kissed me because your crush came to the yard with the love letter and you wanted to save your face.”

“Kind of?”

“And now the whole school thinks we’re dating,” Daniel concludes and picks up a black cat from the ground. The cat starts to purr like crazy, snuggling into Daniel’s arms. “And now we’re here.”

“Yeah…well, the school thinks so but what I wanted …” Seongwoo gulps and continues. “Well, I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess. I really am. But can you like _pretend_…we dated for a while?” Seongwoo’s begging, the shame, but what can he do really? “Please. Just pretend like we dated a few days and then you can say you dumped me today but—”

“Um.” Daniel suddenly looks awkward and he strokes the cat’s fur a little bit more robotically than before. “I… actually, I want to ask you something. Well…want to make a deal?”

Seongwoo blinks. “A deal?”

Daniel stares at the cat in his lap as he continues. “Yeah…you know…after the rumour spread about us dating…” He chews on his lip, his cheeks taking the lightest hue of pink. “Well, after the rumour, some people who were like…sometimes too friendly with me before…”

It takes Seongwoo a few seconds before it clicks. “Wait. You mean your fan club, right?”

Daniel immediately lifts his head, embarrassed. “It’s not a fan club.”

“Sure,” Seongwoo says sarcastically. “They have their own merch.”

“They _do_?”

Daniel actually looks surprised, the poor fool.

“Uh, duh,” Seongwoo replies with this tone, like _dude_. “Don’t tell me that Kang Daniel was the only person who didn’t get the _Daniel K. for prez_ badge.”

“I didn’t!”

“Sweet ignorance.” Seongwoo shakes his head. Their drinks arrive and Seongwoo gratefully takes a sip from his iced caramel latte. “Well, okay. The fan club, what about it?”

“Don’t call it a fan club,” Daniel mutters and dumps one pack of sugar into his own glass.

“It is though,” Seongwoo says, because he’s an asshole. “Get to the point, Kang.”

“Hey, you know you were just asking me for help, right?”

“True. But you said something about a deal too.”

“Yeah…” Daniel scratches the cat’s head. “Yes. Like I was saying, those classmates—” it’s right here, where Daniel ignores Seongwoo’s raised eyebrow – “they’re not that…_friendly_ anymore. They are giving me more space. They stopped coming to my class every break, waiting for me outside the classroom, at gym –” Daniel flushes. “Well, they now…”

“Finally stopped stalking you?”

“It wasn’t stalking!”

Seongwoo laughs a little. “You’re too nice. So, they stopped bothering you?”

Daniel purses his lips. “They weren’t a bother…just, it was sometimes too much to handle. I didn’t know how to respond…they always compliment me and follow me everywhere… and just… and I can’t bring myself to say—” Daniel quickly looks up and Seongwoo knows what he’s thinking about. His letter.

_Because you never do that with anyone. It seems like you hate saying no to people and confrontations in general. And that’s what I don’t like about you. Saying no is crucial. Learn it._

“Um…” Seongwoo blushes and looks sideways. The tabby cat returns and presses its huge body up against Seongwoo’s leg, getting hairs all over Seongwoo’s pants. Daniel looks down and smiles. “She likes you.”

“At least someone does,” Seongwoo mumbles and hesitantly pets it. He’s always had respect for cats, because he thinks that cats are not as honest as dogs are. Cats work in mysterious ways, always so moody, and Seongwoo is never sure if they let him pet them or attack him with their deadly claws and teeth. “So… what are you trying to say?”

“It isn’t uncomfortable, this change,” Daniel replies, playing with the straw in his drink. “I mean…no one really expects anything now…”

Seongwoo studies Daniel’s face and suddenly feels sad for him. “Oh. So…you’re saying…”

Daniel finally looks him in the eyes. “Yeah. They think I’m dating you and that’s why they are like this.” The cat in Daniel’s lap squirms a little and places its paws against Daniel’s chest, meowing loudly. Daniel gives it a little peck on the nose, before facing Seongwoo again. “You said you don’t have any feelings for me—”

“I don’t,” Seongwoo repeats, just in case.

“—and I don’t have any interest in you either.” Seongwoo’s little taken aback by his frankness – he thought Daniel would beat around the bush when saying something like this, but he says it just fine. Why does he have so much trouble saying it to his fan club? Seongwoo snaps his attention back to Daniel because the younger’s not finished. “And that’s why I wanted to ask you something, sunbae.”

Seongwoo’s not that stupid because he knows where this is going, but at the same time he knows absolute shit about what’s happening right now.

“Seongwoo-sunbae,” Daniel starts and Seongwoo fixes his gaze on Daniel’s right eye. He has a mole there, so he focuses on that. “Sunbae. Sungwoon-sunbae and Minhyun-sunbae can’t know about your current feelings. That’s why you lied you’re dating me.”

“Yeah…?”

“And with that lie, the things around me became surprisingly more…comfortable. So, practically the lie helped both of us.”

“Um,” Seongwoo manages to say and gulps. Yeah, it did help him – it was only the fact that he told Sungwoon he’s dating Kang Daniel that raised Sungwoon’s last suspicions about Seongwoo’s feelings towards _him_. And Minhyun… that loose end was tied the second Seongwoo confirmed Minhyun’s questions about him and Daniel.

“So I want to offer you a deal, if you’re up to it,” Daniel says and his face has the most serious expression Seongwoo has seen so far. This way he looks somehow older and Seongwoo realizes that the goofy smile was one of the very few things to make Daniel appear like a kid. “What if… what if we keep pretending that we’re actually dating?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god, i cant believe that it fiiiiinaaaaally came down to the real deal, and by real deal i mean THE BUSINESS 
> 
> let me know down in the comments what you think of this development so far! i reaaaaly appreciate the feedback or anything you write!! helps me at improving and just knowing what are your thoughts while reading is so interesting to read<3
> 
> in the next chapter the tag of fake-dating is going to finally be put in use, so don't worry, it's not a clickbait  
and yes, of course daniel spends 60% of his time in cat cafe, like duh


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one with the roof and the rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would say something abt me being a potato, but you know it anyway so 
> 
> update is finally here and if you follow my twitter then you know exactly why the delay TT TT  
hope you'll enjoy!!
> 
> i want to thank once again to all those fluffingly nice people out there who left kudos and then i'd like to send a million hugs to those who wrote me their thoughts, expressed thanks and said they liked the fic in the comments. seriously, it means so much to me, bc ive always been self-conscious of my writing and myself, and your words touch me in all the right ways  


When Seongwoo returns home, Jisung is napping on the sofa with a book covering his face. It wasn’t a really unfamiliar sight – Jisung totally spent from work and Seongwoo activating his Spidey skills not to wake him up.

Seongwoo tiptoes into his room and quietly closes the door after him. When he’s safely in, he collapses onto the bed, throwing his shoulder bag to his desk. He fishes in his pocket for the paper sugar pack that Daniel managed to press into his hands before Seongwoo left. There’s a series of numbers scrawled on it – Daniel’s phone number.

_What if…what if we keep pretending that we’re actually dating?_

Seongwoo can’t _believe_ this guy.

Does Seongwoo look that desperate to hide his feelings for Sungwoon or what? Yeah, maybe, but is Daniel really expecting him to consider this crazy, _crazy_ idea—

Seongwoo sighs and balls the sugar pack into a ball, chucking it across the room. The paper ball lands right next to the trash bin, an angry reminder of his talk with Daniel.

When Daniel proposed _the deal_, Seongwoo’s head circuited. He stammered a lot, he thinks – which was really embarrassing – and then made up some lame excuse and took off.

Hmph. Seongwoo’s suddenly mad. _Asshole_ – just because Daniel couldn’t handle his army of stalkish fans, he’s trying to use Seongwoo as a shield? Really, he hasn’t changed at all, no guts to tell people what he thinks—

_Like you’re one to talk._

Seongwoo bites his lip.

Damn it.

It was _Seongwoo_ who started it all, so he has no right to curse Daniel for milking the situation. _Seongwoo_ didn’t deny when Minhyun assumed they were dating and _Seongwoo_ was the one kissing Daniel.

Seongwoo may not be shy to tell people they’re shits unlike Daniel, but does he really have the right to diss Daniel for not confronting his fan club head on? When Seongwoo himself is scared to face Sungwoon and Minhyun?

Daniel’s low voice echoes in his head._ Sungwoon-sunbae and Minhyun-sunbae can’t know about your current feelings. That’s why you lied you’re dating me._

He’s right. _Shit_, he’s right. Sungwoon and Minhyun think he and Daniel are dating and it’s the best cover there could be – because there would be no doubts about Seongwoo not having any romantic thoughts about Ha Sungwoon, if he were dating Kang Daniel.

And Daniel thinks of it as pure business too – they would be helping each other.

Symbiosis.

Seongwoo curses and gets up, looking for the crumpled sugar pack.

**self **

hey

it’s ong seongwoo

**self**

…fine

**kang daniel**

great! see u tomorrow sunbae

**kang daniel**

or

boyfriend;)

What the fuck is Seongwoo getting himself into?

The next day is Tuesday and Seongwoo doesn’t know what will happen.

The only thing Daniel texted him was that cheeky reply from yesterday and then it was radio silence. Seongwoo cautiously approaches the school gates, half waiting for Daniel’s fan club to appear with pitchforks and torches, yelling his bloody murder, but there’s nothing besides Minhyun waiting for him as usual.

“Hey, Ong,” he greets him and pokes his forehead. “You seem completely lost. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Seongwoo mutters and scratches his head. He looks around, scanning the crowds of his schoolmates for the mop of blond of hair. “I’m just…”

“Look at you,” Minhyun snorts. “You get a boyfriend and all you can think about is him now. Disgusting.”

“Save it,” Seongwoo hisses. “Like you… weren’t the same.”

“True. But he’s not here yet,” Minhyun says. “You know how traffic gets sometimes.”

“Traffic?” Seongwoo frowns. “What does that get to do with it?”

Minhyun raises his eyebrows. “Becaaaause… that’s like the most probable reason there is for why’s your bf late? Stuck in traffic with his motorbike?”

“_Motorbi_—”

There’s a sudden roar at the front gates, as if someone just pulled up with their hundred-year-old beetle or something. Seongwoo looks back and almost chokes – it’s Daniel on a beat up blue motorbike, taking off his helmet coolly as he greets a few of his classmates passing by.

“There he is, your little sweetheart,” Minhyun says cheerily. “_God_, he looks hella fine.” Minhyun then looks over at Seongwoo, clicking his tongue. “To be honest, you’re my best friend and I love you but how did _you_ score Kang Daniel remains an Acta X file for me.”

“Shut up,” Seongwoo deadpans, trying his hardest not to stare at Daniel and his motorbike, because Minhyun’s right – he looks damn fine. God, was Seongwoo living under a rock? How did he not know that Daniel rides a motorbike to school? “I mean, have you seen my face?”

“Not this shit again,” Minhyun says flatly. “Hey, see ya. I’m sure you want a moment with your baby.”

Seongwoo feels his ears flush. “Don’t call him that!”

Minhyun the bitch only sticks out his tongue and waves before he disappears inside. Seongwoo sighs and is about to follow him, when someone catches him by the arm.

“Hey, wait,” Daniel laughs, smiling brightly at him. At this rate he could put the sun out of its job if he’s not going to stop grinning like an idiot. And damn, how did he get here so fast? Seongwoo huffs, when he looks the guy up and down. It’s fucking unfair that for someone who had his head in a helmet, Daniel’s hair looks perfect as always. Daniel’s grin turns even more radiant than before (if it is even possible), his eyes happy crescents. “Boyfriend.”

“Stop calling me—” Seongwoo starts, but almost spits out his whole lung, when Daniel grabs him by the hand, intertwining their fingers together. “What _the fuck_ you think you’re doing right now—”

“Um…” Daniel leans closer, his breath fanning across Seongwoo’s cheek. “We’re _dating_, remember?” Daniel brings their interlaced hands up. “And _this_ is what couples do, you know? Boyfriend.”

“Don’t call me boyfriend,” Seongwoo mutters and wills himself not to yank his hand free. And begs his hand not to sweat. “It’s weird.”

Daniel chuckles and sets off towards the school entrance, swinging their hands as they go. His hand is slightly bigger than Seongwoo’s and a little rougher too; Seongwoo recalls the feeling of callouses the first time Daniel was close enough for Seongwoo to observe – when he helped him with his bloody nose.

“Mh-mm. Okay,” Daniel says and Seongwoo frowns, because that tone doesn’t sound like anything good. “Then what should I call you, sunbae? Hyung? Ong? Seongwoo? _Babe_?” Daniel grins like the rude brat he is. “I mean we should be close enough to drop the formalities, right?”

“Haha,” Seongwoo laughs cheerily, crushing Daniel’s hand in a clear warning _don’t fuck with me_. “You call me Seongwoo or _babe_ and you’re fucking dead, asshole.”

“Aye, aye,” Daniel chuckles. “Hyung it is then. Seongwoo-hyung.” He gently makes Seongwoo loosen his grip and laughs. “You can call me just like you do now.” He pauses and his gaze turns thoughtful. “Or just… Niel. Well. Shall we?”

They enter the school and Seongwoo knows it’s a battle zone from now on.

The first thing he notices is the stares.

People stare at him as he goes down the hallway hand in hand with Kang Daniel, eyes wide and Seongwoo knows what they’re thinking. Since the fuck when Kang Daniel has been interested in _this_ guy? Whispering breaks into loud talks and low whistles and Seongwoo wants to hide – it’s not that he’s shy or anything. Honestly speaking, he lives for attention but it’s usually for something different – be it a good joke, a prank, nice hairstyle, something he has _done_ to deserve the attention.

This attention is uncomfortable. Because it’s not really about him. It’s about who he’s _with_.

“Hey,” Daniel’s voice is low and gentle. They are about the same height, so Daniel doesn’t really need to lean down, but Seongwoo notices the way he leans _in_, although it isn’t really necessary for Seongwoo to hear him. “You okay, right?”

“I’m damn ecstatic,” Seongwoo mumbles back. “God, why are they treating you like you’re the best thing since bread?”

“Because I probably am.” Daniel grins at him and Seongwoo snorts.

“You’re so full of it.”

“I’ll walk you to your locker,” Daniel only replies and nods towards the hallway. “Which one’s yours?”

“Over there…” Seongwoo gulps, because he sees that Sungwoon and Minhyun are already standing by his locker, talking. “Um…hey, maybe you shouldn’t—”

“Nonsense,” Daniel says, when he notices Seongwoo’s friends. “I guess we can start with my side of the deal.”

“_What_?”

But Daniel is already leading him to his locker with confident steps, radiating 100% confident vibe along the way and Seongwoo can do nothing but to follow, because his hand is still trapped in Daniel’s iron grip. Minhyun sees them first and waves at them excitedly, while Sungwoon only narrows his eyes a little in suspicion before breaking into a smile.

“Hey, Ongie, finally,” Minhyun gives him a cheeky smile and then he turns to Daniel and literally beams at him with unhidden curiosity. “And here’s you precious other half. We haven’t really officially met, right? I’m Hwang Minhyun, Seongwoo’s—”

“Best friend, I know,” Daniel smiles brightly and shakes his hand, strong and steady. “I’ve heard so much about you, sunbae.”

“Only good things, I hope,” Minhyun snorts. “And drop the formalities, just call me hyung. If you've managed to get _him_ on a date—” This is when he very explicitly looks at Seongwoo with a tired expression on his face “—it’s you who deserves all the respect.”

Daniel cackles at that, while Seongwoo only lets out an ironic laugh. “Ha, ha. _Ha_.”

“Well, I can’t really disagree,” Sungwoon cuts in, looking at Seongwoo. “Seongwoo’s very…mysterious when it comes to love. It’s a hella tough job to even set him up with someone, he’s never even mentioned you—”

“Okay!” Seongwoo exclaims. “That’s enough, don’t you think?”

“Sorry, Ong-ah, we’re just surprised,” Sungwoon laughs lightly, turning to Daniel. “I’m Ha Sungwoon, by the way. Hyung is fine for me too.”

“Yeah, we’ve met. And Seongwoo-hyung told me about you too.” There’s one beat of silence, before Daniel continues, cheerful as always. “Nice to meet you. Kang Daniel.” They shake hands. Seongwoo kind of wonders what makes that guy tick – like, how he can be this polite and nice all the time? Seongwoo would explode or his mouth would start babbling or something because of nervousness.

They launch themselves in a basic small talk, Minhyun and Sungwoon very casually asking Daniel random questions regarding his football training, classes and other shit no one actually cares about. Somewhere in the middle of conservation, Daniel lets go of his hand and settles it on the small of Seongwoo’s back. He does it so naturally it leaves Seongwoo wondering, if Daniel has a lot of experience with stuff like this. His hand feels very light, from time to time gently stroking the spot with his fingers, sending shivers down Seongwoo’s spine.

“I’m sorry, but I have to get to class,” Daniel says suddenly and gives Seongwoo an apologetic look. “If I’m late, my teacher won’t let me off this time.”

“Yeah, right,” Seongwoo says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “He would never.”

Daniel seems to completely not get the irony, because he only nods, smiling. “See you at lunch?”

“Yeah—”

“Sit with us, too,” Minhyun says. “We want to know the get-together story, so you better prepare.”

_You better prepare._

“Sorry, but I can’t today because of football,” Daniel only replies. He turns to Seongwoo, oblivious that his fake boyfriend stopped freaking _breathing_, his hand dropping from Seongwoo’s back to his side. “Then—”

_You better prepare. _Seongwoo almost chokes on his spit, when the realization hits that they have absolute _shit_ prepared. “I—uh, we—” Seongwoo catches Daniel’s eyes and gives him a pointed look. “Um, Daniel, actually, how about we get some _alone time_ after the first class? I’ll come by your classroom?”

When the first class ends, Seongwoo hurriedly stands up, almost tripping over his own bag to get out of there. People were staring at him even in class and someone had the audacity to ask him during calling absence through a note if he’s blackmailing Daniel into dating because “even though you’re really good-looking, Daniel’s never been interested in dating before, then why would he be now”. Seongwoo scrawled “fuck off” and threw it in the person’s face. Teacher saw him and Seongwoo spent the first half of the class out in the hallway.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Minhyun calls after him, laughing, when Seongwoo’s about to leave. “You’re still at school!”

“Fuck off!” Seongwoo yells.

When he gets to Daniel’s class, a very strange sight welcomes him. Daniel sits in the back like the last time, but now he’s only with Jihoon and Kim Jaehwan, playing some kind of game which consists of rubber bands and paper balls – his fan club nowhere in sight. Seongwoo cringes upon seeing Jaehwan, because he’s sure he must have gotten his letter by now, but Jaehwan doesn’t seem to express any sign of wanting to talk to Seongwoo about it and Seongwoo sure won’t ask.

“Hyung!” Daniel brightens and waves at him. Seongwoo can sense the questioning glances from Daniel’s classmates and chooses to ignore them. “Over here.”

“Seongwoo-hyung!” Jihoon jumps to his feet, bolting to Seongwoo and slapping his shoulder. “Oh my God, you’re such a good actor! I mean you two had me fooled with all that sunbae-hoobae act – I would’ve never guessed you two were dating –”

“Ah, right,” Seongwoo laughs feebly.

“But I _did_ notice the weird tension between you two during that club meeting.” Jihoon wiggles his eyebrows and Seongwoo would strangle him if there weren’t more pressing matters to deal with.

“Knock it off, Jihoon-ah,” Daniel laughs and gets up from his seat. “You’re making Seongwoo-hyung uncomfortable.”

Jihoon snorts. “Like I could ever make someone uncomfortable, Kang. I mean, me, the most—”

Daniel puts up his hands, laughing but sort of sighing too. “Please, don’t. I rest my case. This debate could take hours.” He leans over to Seongwoo and dramatically whispers: “I just saved us all from a deadass long monologue and terrible self-absorbed acrostic poem skills.”

Seongwoo scoffs, but he’s not actually listening – because now that Seongwoo’s looking at Daniel he notices that Daniel seems way more relaxed. No, he doesn’t seem relaxed – he actually _is_ and Seongwoo’s kind of glad for him. Now, Daniel’s just like any other high-school boy, spending time with his friends by some good-for-nothing activity.

“Seongwoo-hyung,” Daniel calls him and offers him his hand, which takes two seconds for Seongwoo to take, very well aware of their classmates watching. “Let’s go.”

“You two are so cute. It’s disgusting,” Jaehwan yells after them and makes a face. “Really, Seongwoo-hyung, with face like yours I’m sure you would score someone better than this meathead over here.”

“Don’t be jealous, Jjaeni,” Daniel only replies and tucks at Seongwoo’s hand, leading him out of the classroom. “You know I’m the best meathead out there.”

The laugh Jaehwan produces could be strong enough to burst both of Seongwoo’s eardrums, if he were unfortunate enough and happened to be sitting right next to him.

The hallways are surprisingly empty, so Daniel lets go of his hand. “So, where to?”

Seongwoo thinks about that one. He doesn’t fancy going outside to the basketball court to sit on _that_ bench (for obvious reasons) and he kind of thinks that they shouldn’t discuss their fake relationship just here in the corridor. Then he remembers something and turns to Daniel who’s flipping over something on his phone. “Um…we could go to the roof?”

The stairs are devil’s invention, but this time Seongwoo doesn’t mind feeling tired. School’s roof was one of his favourite places in the whole town – and it was worth the mini heart attack he always gets climbing the stairs. Daniel on the other hand seems way too okay, not even huffing or puffing, the stairs being completely nothing to him. Seongwoo isn’t surprised – Daniel’s a jock after all. He probably hits the gym regularly, judging from his physique; and judging from Daniel in general he probably enjoys working out, which is something Seongwoo will never relate to.

“_Woah_!” Daniel laughs out loud and spreads out his hands. “Woah, this place is _amazing_!”

“You’ve never been here?” Seongwoo asks, surprised. He thought that if someone from his schoolmates had keys to this place too, it would be Daniel.

“No,” Daniel replies. He’s still smiling and walking around the roof, breathing in the fresh air. Seongwoo watches him and thinks it’s almost cute – the way he’s excited to be outside and here, like a puppy let out for a walk. “I don’t have the keys. Only class presidents have it—” Daniel suddenly turns around, pinning Seongwoo with a suspicious look. “Wait. How come _you_ have the keys?”

“Um,” Seongwoo chuckles. “Minhyun’s the class president and I kind of…made a copy?”

Daniel stares at him and then he lets out a heartfelt laugh. “Of course you did.”

They sit down, their backs leaning against the low wall serving as railing, a respectful distance between them.

“So. The battle plan?” Seongwoo asks. “We should probably get our getting together story straight.”

“Well, straight—”

“Don’t make a pun.” 

“Okay,” Daniel chuckles. “Hm. How about…that time after the newspaper club meeting instead of me giving you back the letter—” Seongwoo winces, but Daniel continues. “—I actually asked you out? And you’ve already had like a thing for me for years, so you decided to say yes…”

“For _years_? Woah, hold up, cowboy. No one’s gonna believe that,” Seongwoo deadpans. “I mean—”

Daniel raises his eyebrows. “You had a thing for me back in—”

“That was then!” Seongwoo almost screams. “I mean Minhyun would have definitely noticed if I'd had at least _interest_ in you for that long, let alone _liked_ you for years—”

“Okay, then how about this.” Daniel turns to him with his whole body and crosses his long legs. “When you got hit by that textbook and before Sungwoon-hyung interrupted us, we were like talking on the way to the infirmary and we found out we had a lot in common and there was this spark and all that shit.”

Seongwoo bobs his head and motions for Daniel to continue.

“And then we couldn’t, like, stop thinking about each other, because to me you were super funny and handsome and to you I was like, well, _me_—”

“Can you get any more shameless?” Seongwoo says flatly, but is lowkey aware of the fact that Daniel called him handsome. And funny. Did he mean it? “Like, tone down the ego, Kang.”

Daniel smirks at him, laughing. “I’m kidding, kidding. So, when I met you at the club I was really shook, because I was so nervous. Then I bumped into you by the lockers and finally got the balls to ask you out. You said yes.”

Seongwoo taps his chin. He doesn’t want to admit it, but Daniel basically handled the story all on his own. “Where were you during the weekend?”

“Me? Why?” Daniel puckers his lip. “At home. My mum went to visit my aunt, but I felt sick so she left alone.”

“Great. Then we were on our first date during the weekend. We hung out at your place and then we decided on being a couple. Sounds good enough?”

Daniel nods. “Good enough for me.”

“Okay then.” Seongwoo stands up to leave. “Well, that’s that. I guess we can go back—”

“Wait, hyung.” Daniel stops him and gets up too. “You didn’t come up with reasons why would _you_ date me. And also, we should make some ground rules, don’t you think?”

“Well, I guess…I can always come up with some reasons along the way,” Seongwoo says. “Depending on the mood and your behaviour.” Daniel protests and Seongwoo shrugs. “Take it or leave it.” Daniel grumbles something and Seongwoo can’t help but laugh at that, before asking. “And rules? For what?”

“You know – for our supposed relationship. To look natural and not to raise suspicions. And so we don’t do something stupid.”

Seongwoo can’t really argue with that. “Alright. What do you have in mind?”

Daniel leans against the railing. The wind ruffles his hair and Seongwoo wonders absent-mindedly what shampoo does he use to make it look so fluffy and soft. “Well, you definitely have to go to all my games.”

“What? You want me to go to your football matches? _All of them_?” Seongwoo uncomfortably remembers the war flashbacks from his days as a football player – the ball finding him no matter where he was to hit him on the head. “Is it really necessary?”

“Of course,” Daniel says and frowns. “You’re my boyfriend. You have to support your bae.”

“Ugh, _fine_.” Seongwoo rubs his eyes and tries not to roll them at the word _bae_. “Then you have to start sitting with me at lunch – Minhyun would never believe I would let my boyfriend make me sit at _his_ table or let him run free, not using my hyung privileges with a younger guy.”

“You’re that kind of boyfriend, hyung?” Daniel playfully chuckles. “Never would have thought.”

Seongwoo leans in, his face close to Daniel as he says. “If I got my man, I’d keep him close. Or rather, _he_ would want to keep me close, because I tend to wander off. Minhyun knows that.”

Daniel’s eyes flick over his face and coughs a little. “O-okay.”

Seongwoo bites back a satisfied smile and turns away. “And you should give me rides to school.”

Daniel sighs. “Why?”

“You have a motorbike. Would you really let your one and only walk to school every day?” Seongwoo knows he’s being a little shit, but if he’s doing this, he’s going to do it _all the way_.

Daniel stares at him for a while, before he breaks down laughing. “God, you’re good. And right. I would never let them walk.”

“There you go.”

“Then we have to go together to parties—”

“Unfortunately, that’s given.”

“—_and_ you have to make me your wallpaper on your phone.”

“_What_?” Seongwoo can’t believe this. “That’s fucking cheesy.”

“I am a cheesy person,” Daniel says and shrugs.

“Fine. Then you too.”

Daniel grins brightly. “Of course.” He takes out his phone and before Seongwoo can protest, he hears the ‘click’. Really, fuck his life.

“Couldn’t you have waited until later?” Seongwoo mutters, self-consciously smoothing down his hair. It’s not like he would groom himself, but he would at least mentally prepare for the photoshoot. “Let me see—”

“It’s… great,” Daniel just says. He stares at his phone for a few seconds, before showing Seongwoo the picture. “Very picturesque.”

“That’s a big word for you,” Seongwoo snorts. He has to admit though that yeah, he looks good – natural, with his hair blown back by the wind and the growing smile on his lips.

“Now you,” Daniel grins and casually leans back. Seongwoo contemplates for a second taking a nice photo, but then he remembers no, that’s not really his style. So he angles his phone just slightly upward and snaps a pic.

“Hey!” Daniel huffs. “That angle—”

“Dear, you look just fantastic,” Seongwoo cackles, showing Daniel the result. “I think I can see your brain right through the nostrils.”

Daniel stares at his phone for exactly two seconds and then snort-laughs. “I’ll get you for that.”

“Sure thing,” Seongwoo replies and sets up his new home screen. _Goodbye, my Pokémon homescreen_.

“So…” Daniel taps his chin. “Anything else?”

Seongwoo clicks his tongue. “Obviously no kissing.”

“Obviously…” Daniel shakes his head. “Um, but we have to maintain _some_ skin ship. No one will ever believe us, if we never touch each other.”

“I, uh, true…”

“So I guess, the basics? Holding hands, arms around waist, hugs… no kissing on the lips, but we could…” Daniel’s ears are suddenly flaming red and Seongwoo suspects that he’s no better.

“Pecks on cheeks or something like that?” Seongwoo mutters not looking Daniel in the eyes. “I guess that would be okay…”

Daniel grabs his nape shyly. “I mean, um…let’s just go with the flow, okay? And whatever feels uncomfortable or too much, let’s poke each other or something, so we would stop.”

“Agreed.” Seongwoo swallows and then taps the railing. “Now the most important rule.”

“What’s that?” Daniel folds his arms. It’s weird talking to Daniel like this – because they’re talking about something that will make them interact in the future way more. Seongwoo finds it weird because it’s planning hang-outs and interactions with someone he would never talk in the first place, if it weren’t for the circumstances.

“We can never talk about it with anyone,” Seongwoo says and gives him a look. “You can keep a secret, right, Kang?”

“It’s not me who has loose lips here, don’t you think?” Daniel retorts smugly and laughs, when Seongwoo startles and chokes.

“Shut it,” Seongwoo mutters. “Also, all _this_—” He gesticulates to the space between them.  
“—it’s strictly business.”

“Duh,” Daniel nods. “So, don’t fall for me for real.”

Seongwoo scoffs. He remembers his love letter to Daniel. And then he looks at him, this cute, _gorgeous_ guy with broad frame and even broader smile and can’t hide the satisfaction when he replies. “Please. You _really_ don’t have to worry about that, asshole.”

They shake hands and Seongwoo feels this is going to be a really weird semester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> verbal contract it is!!
> 
> in previous chapter i said that the business starts in chapter 6 and it did, thank god  
ooohhoo what are you curious about regarding their fake dating?? reaction of someone to something in particular or something you expect will happen? let me know in the comments!
> 
> roofs in kdramas are like freaking dream places to hang out, why my highschool had to be super boring and have a saddleback roof
> 
> daniel riding a motorbike is the "beautiful" era, which is the best and my favourite w1 era. seongwoo being still nostalgically obsessed with pokemon is actually me being nostalgically obsessed with pokemon
> 
> thank you so much for reading!!! kudos and comments are greatly welcome and appreciated!
> 
> if you want to know more, you can find me on twitter @dorkitos, where im just being a legit kpop trash and sometimes tweet random things, but also tweet about the updates and the chapter summaries. i want to start dropping little teasers for the chapters or just question polls bc i still dont know how twitter works and this feels like a nice contribution in a way lol. im also thinking about starting the curiouscat for QA but we'll see~~


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cheering on your bae: ong's walkthrough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, here's the new chapter of the comedy/super serious high school drama au of ur fave boi!!
> 
> soooo, the exam season is finally over and the new semester of my college life began so i hope it won't be as hectic now... let's all hope and pray>>>
> 
> anyways i hope you'll enjoy the chapter!! follow me on twitter @dorkitos to find out more about the fic or just to interact with me, bc i really need to get used to the twitter thing and become cool or something

The next morning Seongwoo sits down at the table with his uncle for breakfast and starts inhaling his cereals as usual, because he’s shit at waking up on time and he’s also shit with time management in general.

“Oh, Seongwoo, I almost forgot,” Jisung suddenly says. “Here, it came back in the mail.”

Seongwoo freezes when he recognizes one of his love letters. He jumps to his feet and snatches the letter out of Jisung’s outstretched hand.

“Hey! You don’t have to be so panicky,” Jisung snorts and returns to his cereal bowl.

Seongwoo runs into his bedroom and presses the letter to his chest. His whole body shakes and it takes three more breaths to open his eyes and look down at the letter. It’s the one for Kim Jonghyun. Seongwoo’s fingers tremble as he reads the _return to sender_.

Kim Jonghyun was one of his classmates back in ninth grade and for a while in freshman year, before he moved away to Seoul. The letter was addressed to Jonghyun’s old house.

Seongwoo bites his lip.

His second love letter – but a first one to a boy.

Dear Kim Jonghyun,

I’m scared. Because I don’t understand. I don’t want to like you this way, but I do. At least a little. I’m crying myself to sleep, because I don’t know if it’s okay to even think of you like this. You’re not a girl. This is my second letter and I thought that the second letter will be to a girl, but it isn’t. It’s for you.

You’re the nicest and kindest boy in our year. You help classmates and you always stay behind in the classroom to check if there’s trash on the floor and you clean it up, if there is. You’re helping everyone with their homework. And you have such a nice smile and nice eyes.

But you’re a boy. And I’m just so confused.

Your new haircut really suits you.

Ong Seongwoo

Kim Jonghyun. It seems like ages and yet the memory of Jonghyun hasn’t dimmed – after Sejeong, he developed a crush on Jonghyun and it was both expected and utterly surprising. It was impossible _not_ to like Jonghyun – and Seongwoo found out in more ways than one. In freshman year though, Jonghyun moved to Seoul, leaving confused Seongwoo with turbulent thoughts and revelations he needed to face head on.

Seongwoo lets out a sad sigh, slowly smoothing the rumpled corner. At least one letter will stay a personal affair.

“Ong Seongwoo!” Jisung calls from the kitchen and Seongwoo snaps out of his trance. “Your phone is ringing like crazy!”

Seongwoo throws the letter under his pillow, before he bursts through the door into the kitchen. He grabs his phone and answers. “What?”

“What what,” Daniel’s voice echoes on the other side. “I’m here. In front of your house. We can’t be late, so move it.”

“Don’t order me around,” Seongwoo hisses. “I’m coming.”

“Sorry, um, I didn’t mean it like a command—”

Seongwoo hangs up.

“Wow, who’s that?”

Seongwoo turns and sees Jisung by the window. “Does some kid from our block have a motorbike?”

“That’s just… um. My ride,” Seongwoo mumbles.

Jisung whips his head. “Your _what_?”

“My ride,” Seongwoo says and grabs his bag. “I’m late, let’s talk later!”

“Wait a minute—Ong Seongwoo—_who_—”

“Bye!”

Seongwoo runs the stairs down and almost knocks Kang Daniel off his feet, colliding into him.

“Whoa, hey, hey, we’re not _that_ late,” Daniel laughs and steadies him. Seongwoo registers that there’s something different about his hair today. It’s sticking out in various directions as if it’s never seen a comb before. “What’s up with your hair?”

Daniel raises his eyebrows. “Um, what?” Daniel’s hands instinctively fly to his head. “Oh, yeah. I wasn’t sure if I could find your house in time, so I left without—”

Seongwoo sighs and reaches out and smooths it down, trying to use his fingers as a pretend brush to tame the wild blond strands. “Dude, your hair’s mess. I can’t be seen with you like this.”

“Oh. Um.” Daniel stays completely still, letting Seongwoo fix his hair. Daniel’s hair is even softer than it looks. Not that Seongwoo cares though. When he’s done, he steps back. “It’s not the best, but at least now it doesn’t look like a tornado swept through there.”

“Thanks,” Daniel murmurs and scratches his head. He takes a helmet and tosses it to Seongwoo. “Here. Put this on and we can go.”

Seongwoo’s never been on a motorbike before and although he was the one suggesting it, he’s suddenly a teeny tiny bit nervous, seeing the bike right in front of him. “Is that thing safe?”

Daniel’s already got on, his helmet safely on his head. “What?” Seongwoo can clearly see that he’s smirking, because his visor’s still up. “You already scared, hyung?”

“You wish,” Seongwoo spits and follows suit. At first, the motorbike seemed a bit on the old side, but now looking at it closely, Seongwoo sees that even though the blue paint is peeling off, the bike is in excellent shape. Daniel must be taking really good care of it.

“Grab on my waist,” Daniel instructs. “Since it’s your first time—”

“How do you know—”

“Hyung. I saw you looking at it.” Daniel tilts his head sideways so Seongwoo would hear him more properly. “It’s obvious it’s your first time, or you wouldn’t look at it like it was a devil’s invention.”

“Whatever,” Seongwoo mutters. “So, what do I do?”

“Hold my waist, so you won’t fall,” Daniel says. “It’ll be more comfortable to hold onto me than the bike.”

“_Al_-right.” Seongwoo brings his hands towards Daniel’s waist, slightly hesitating. Isn’t this too much skin ship for two people in a fake relationship? It’s just a ride, though. Seongwoo sighs and puts his hands on Daniel’s hips, as lightly as possible. “Like this?”

“Yeah.” Daniel’s reply is muffled, because he’s already put down the helmet’s shield. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess.”

Daniel revives the engine and before Seongwoo can even scream, they are on the road, whiffing through streets and lanes.

And Seongwoo feels everything at once—

And it feels freaking _fantastic_.

Seongwoo hears his blood singing in his veins and he’s scared but excited at the same time and he feels _alive_, wind hitting his body and making his clothes wildly flap around.

He thinks that at some point he lets out a loud whoop or a yell, unable to contain his emotions – the speed is amazing and he grabs a little too strongly on Daniel’s hips, because he’s sure that for now Daniel is the only thing anchoring him to this reality and without him he would be already swept by the blast.

Seongwoo laughs like crazy and he thinks he hears Daniel laughing too.

When they arrive at school, Daniel parks under a tree, getting off first and then helping Seongwoo down. Seongwoo wobbles a little and Daniel laughs, holding him by the shoulders so he wouldn’t crash land on his face. “Hyung, you okay?”

“Yeah. Just my legs feel like spaghetti,” Seongwoo breathes out. Daniel gently takes off Seongwoo’s helmet and chuckles. “Now _your_ hair’s a mess, hyung.”

Seongwoo snorts and tries to brush his hair with his fingers in a poor attempt to look civilised. “In my case it’s a style, Kang.”

“Of course, it is,” Daniel grins and puts Seongwoo’s helmet into the bike, while he holds his one under the armpit. Daniel looks sideways and then glances at him, suddenly fidgeting. “But I’m glad you enjoyed the ride. You seemed to have fun?”

Seongwoo recalls the way he felt on that bike and his heart thumps with excitement. “Yeah. I loved it.”

Daniel smiles at him and Seongwoo finds the smile a bit different – it’s not the radiant one, even though it’s just as genuine. This time however, Seongwoo feels a little happier, as if he deserved it somehow.

Daniel makes sure his bike is properly parked, before taking Seongwoo’s hand in his own. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

Seongwoo obediently follows, but his knees are weak so his steps are clumsy and slow. Daniel laughs at him the whole walk to the school’s entrance and Seongwoo would tell him to shut up, if the bike ride didn’t leave his head so dizzy.

Daniel walks Seongwoo to his locker, putting his helmet next to his feet on the floor while he waits for Seongwoo to get his stuff.

“You don’t have to walk me every day, you know—” Seongwoo says and opens it, taking out books he won’t use anyway. He’s not exactly a scholar. “It’s not like people would get suspicious if we’re not together all the time—” 

Daniel leans against the neighbouring locker with his shoulder and rolls his eyes. “Of course, I do. When you like someone, you want to spend most of your time with them, don’t you think? This way it looks natural.”

Seongwoo’s hand freezes a little, thinking back to his letters, before nodding. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Daniel grins. “There you go.” Suddenly he tenses up and straightens. “Um…”

Seongwoo looks up, seeing Daniel fidget. “What’s—”

Then he spots them.

The Daniel fan club are standing not far from them, with their heads together, whispering and throwing questioning glances at both him and Daniel.

“Oh.” Seongwoo frowns. “Looks like, um, it’s my time.”

Daniel turns to him with wide eyes. “Time for what—”

Seongwoo takes in a deep breath. “For my side of the deal.” He closes his locker with a loud bang, shoving the books into his shoulder bag. “Stay still.”

“Hyung—”

“_Stay_ _still_. And shut up. Or try to look at me more lovingly or something.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows, a hint of worry spreading across his face. “What are you going to—”

Seongwoo smiles, even though his heart might explode with nervousness every second now. He’s never been in a relationship and physical contact was always something reserved only for a small number of people – and Kang Daniel was sure not one of them.

Seongwoo swallows and then he puts his arms around Daniel’s neck, pulling him into a hug. Daniel freezes for just a second, but it’s that second Seongwoo feels like a complete idiot. However, Daniel laughs then and brings his own hands around Seongwoo. Seongwoo hears Daniel’s fans squeal, but somewhere in the back of his mind the only thing he focuses on is Daniel’s strong body and how it is _perfect_ for hugs – engulfing him in a gentle warmth and Seongwoo won’t lie – it’s surprisingly nice.

“Good move,” Daniel whispers into his ear, making Seongwoo flinch at the proximity.

“Gotta show them.... that you’re _my_ man,” Seongwoo snorts and Daniel chuckles in reply. Daniel is the first one to pull away and Seongwoo (very inconspicuously) looks over to the we-think-Daniel-is-a-god crowd. They’re gone and Seongwoo lets out a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s settled. At least for now.” He grabs his bag and they go to Daniel’s locker so the latter could put there his helmet. They set off for class, their hands entertwined for everyone to see.

“Hey,” Daniel says when they arrive at Seongwoo’s classroom. “I have a football practice this afternoon. Can you come watch?”

Seongwoo makes a face. “The rule is only about football matches, Kang.”

Daniel scoffs. “Yeah, I know, but it would be better you showed up. I mean, it’s the first week of us being a couple. My boyfriend would definitely want to see me on the field, be it a match or just practice.” Daniel leans in and Seongwoo strains to hear his words. He smells of some sort of sweetness, like candies. Daniel continues. “And we’re supposed to be in our _honeymoon_ phase now. You know. We should look like it.”

Kang Daniel, people, the expert on relationships all of a sudden. Seongwoo suppresses the urge to gag (honeymoon phase? really?) and shoves Daniel’s face away with his hand. “Fine. Jesus.”

Daniel straightens up and grins. “Don’t forget to cheer for me, hyung.”

“I’ll be the one yelling _that flop is my boyfriend_,” Seongwoo replies, patting Daniel’s shoulder. Then he gesticulates to the classroom’s door. “I’m going in first.”

He’s about to just walk away, when he notices the curious looks from his classmates through the class windows. He walks backwards and turns to Daniel and pretends to fix Daniel’s collar, although there’s nothing wrong with it. “See you at lunch, _babe_,” Seongwoo says in a saccharine voice, not loud enough to raise suspicious, but loud enough for people to hear them.

Daniel’s eyes widen for a moment, before his face breaks into a radiant grin, chuckling. “You too, pumpkin.”

Seongwoo tries not to throw up in his mouth at the _pumpkin _part and only settles with giving Daniel a look, the _bruh_ look. Daniel smiles even wider, waving before he walks to his own classroom.

When the afternoon comes, Seongwoo begs Minhyun to come with him to Daniel’s practice.

“Why do you want me to go with you? Sungwoon wanted to go to the library…” Minhyun sighs and follows Seongwoo out onto the bleachers anyway.

“Why didn’t you go then? With Sungwoon?”

“Because you _begged_ me to go with you.”

“I didn’t _beg_.”

“You did. And I mean, it’s even amazing you want to be here. You hate ball games.”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Seongwoo mumbles, the word still foreign in his mouth. He goes with the reason Daniel gave him. “I… um. I want to see him on the field.”

Minhyun glances at him, his lips already turning up into a smile. Seongwoo snorts. “What?” They sit down right behind a group of sophomores who are huddling over a bag of chips. Seongwoo stretches out his legs and cranes his neck to find his darling fake boyfriend down on the pitch.

“Nothing, Ongie,” Minhyun laughs. He waves his hand in general towards the football field. “It’s just really cute. You know, you dating and wanting to see Daniel.”

“Whatever,” Seongwoo mutters and folds his arms.

“You’ve absolutely hated ball games and known shit about football since your club shut down,” Minhyun continues. “So, it’s really unusual to see you just, you know. Do this. You wouldn’t if you didn’t care for him.”

Seongwoo laughs uneasily. If only Minhyun knew to what extent is Seongwoo willing to go to, just to prevent him from finding out about Sungwoon. Ball games are not the worst thing on the list. “Well, they say love, uh… changes people.”

Minhyun sniggers. “It sure does.”

Seongwoo finally spots him then. He can’t help but notice that all football players have goddamn yummy bodies and Kang Daniel is no exception – the blue-white football dress with number one on his back is loose but it does nothing to hide Daniel’s broad shoulders or his amazing physique. There is a band tied around his left biceps, the captain band, which is cool although Daniel’s knee socks are funny – one is pink and the other one neon yellow and it physically hurts Seongwoo’s eyes just looking at it.

“What’s up with Daniel’s hideous knee socks? Is it like a jock thing—” Seongwoo says absent-mindedly, not really expecting a reaction, but surprisingly it comes from the people sitting right in front of him.

“Don’t diss Kang Daniel-oppa’s knee socks—” the girl starts and then stops abruptly, staring at Seongwoo, who only raises his eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“You – you are – that Daniel-oppa is –”

“Oh, it’s _Ong Seongwoo_,” the guy next to her says, his tone just a bit shy from rude.

Seongwoo narrows his eyes when the guy doesn’t add the appropriate honorifics. _Little punk_. Seongwoo already feels Minhyun’s hand on his elbow, clearly trying to calm him down, but Seongwoo’s never missed an opportunity to put rude brats in their place and he’s not about to start now.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Seongwoo says and smiles sweetly. “And for your information, _kids_, I will diss my boyfriend’s wardrobe however I like. The knee socks are damn awful.”

The group of sophomores frown at his words and Seongwoo grins when he notices the guy from before flinch when he hears _my boyfriend_. The group’s bag of chips lies forgotten and Seongwoo cocks his head, realising they keep staring at him with these pouty faces. “Anything else you want to say?”

“Kang Daniel-oppa… is he really dating _you_? How could he even date someone… he _can’t_… it’s so mean of him, when all of us were…”

The emphasis on _you _is truly uncalled for. Like wow, Seongwoo _could_ have been hurt, if he cared more. But it’s not what makes Seongwoo frown. The girl who asked him has her fists clenched and others are not any different – hurt, sadness, anger showing on their faces and Seongwoo thinks it’s almost cute – cute and fucking horrible. Horrible that these people think Daniel is just some kind of thing to own, a thing to worship but can’t have any will of his own. He understands they’re hurt – understands it all too well because how many times he’s been aching over his unrequited loves? How many times he’s seen his crushes looking at someone the way Seongwoo knew they would never look at him? How many times he hated that he loved them, wanted them, knowing he’ll never have a chance?

But he’s never blamed any of them, not even once; he’s been bitter yes, but he _did_ love them – and it has always been enough for Seongwoo as long as they were happy… even if it was with someone else.

The people in front of him have their face scrunched up in displeased frown and Seongwoo suddenly feels disgusted just from listening to them and looking at them.

“Yeah, we’re dating,” Seongwoo says and stands up. “And y’all better grow up. He’s a fucking human and that’s why he _can_.”

Seongwoo turns to Minhyun. “Hey, Nyeon-ah, let’s go.”

Seongwoo starts down the bleachers, but still hears one of them mumble. “I don’t believe him. He kissed him under that tree and _he_ was the one hugging him. I bet Daniel-sunbae just doesn’t know how to turn him down when he’s coming onto him this shamelessly…I mean Daniel-sunbae wouldn’t betray our trust like that for _him_…”

Minhyun catches up with Seongwoo half way down the bleachers. “You okay?”

“I’m fucking pissed off that’s what I am,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. “I mean, can you believe them? The person they liked and admired and suddenly he’s dating and _it’s mean of him_? _Betray_ their trust?” Seongwoo rubs his forehead. “It’s fucking fucked up.”

Minhyun sighs. “You know how people can get, especially when they are jealous.”

“And it’s even so obvious that we _are_ dating… right?” Seongwoo says hesitantly and sits down on the lower bleachers, Minhyun taking a seat beside him.

The next forty minutes they watch the practice (boring) and Seongwoo tries to amuse himself by counting how many times Kang Daniel would brush his hair back and how many times it would be answered with excited cheers from the cheerleaders on the side lines.

Somewhen through the game, Seongwoo turns around and sees those sophomores from before still angrily looking at him.

Well, if they are going to stare, Seongwoo later better give them something to stare at.

The coach on the field signals the end of practice and all the team players run off to the benches to get their water bottles. Daniel is the last one to leave the field, wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel.

“I’m going to say hi,” Seongwoo announces and Minhyun makes a motion to get up too, but Seongwoo stops him. “Um, if you don’t mind, I’d rather go uh, alone.”

“Of course,” Minhyun cackles. “You’re whipped, damn.”

Seongwoo’s face flares up. “It’s not that, you fucktard.”

Minhyun shrugs. “It’s you who wants to go alone.”

“Just, wait here, okay?”

“Okay,” Minhyun says and takes out his phone from his bag. “Just don’t tire him much. He’s just had practice, poor guy.”

“Fuck off.”

Minhyun laughs. “Sorry, sorry.”

Seongwoo walks down the rest of the bleachers and then jumps over the railing onto the field. He makes his way towards the football players crowding around the benches or just sitting on the side lines. Daniel is joking around with Park Jihoon and some guys Seongwoo doesn’t know, not really noticing him, until one of his teammates pokes him in the shoulder.

“Um, Daniel, Ong-sunbae…”

Daniel turns around and Seongwoo suppresses the groan at the injustice of the world – Kang Daniel with rosy cheeks, sweaty and smelly and still looking like a freaking snack. The shirt clings to his body and his hair is wet (from sweat or water he chucked on his head to refresh himself, Seongwoo isn’t sure) and it’s sticking to his forehead, but he’s still handsome as ever.

Fucking injustice.

Daniel seems to be surprised for a moment to see him there. Then, as if he remembered that Seongwoo is supposed to be his boyfriend, brightens up. “Hyung! You came?”

_Obviously, you turnip. You told me to._ “Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”

Daniel jogs over to him, a wide smile on his lips. “So. Um. How was it?”

Seongwoo wants to tell him that if not for his weakness of watching cute guys with amazing calves, it would be boring as hell. He restrains himself and tells him the less rude truth. “To be honest I forgot most of the rules for football, so I just watched _you_.”

Daniel looks at him in surprise and if Seongwoo didn’t know better, he would swear it made Daniel embarrassed. Seongwoo grins. Daniel snorts and scratches the back of his head, blushing. “Well, I hope I didn’t flop then, when my _boyfriend_ was watching me so intently.”

“You didn’t fall on your face and that’s good enough for me,” Seongwoo says and shrugs. Daniel laughs and reminds him of all the times _Seongwoo_ fell flat on his face during the matches in middle school. Seongwoo can’t really believe that Daniel remembers – it seems that Seongwoo was pretty an icon of disasters when Daniel recalls one particularly painful incident.

“How can you remember all of that?” Seongwoo asks in disbelief and shakes his head. “These things should be buried.”

Daniel scoffs. “I was passing towels in the team so the least I could do was watch. I wanted to play, but at that time I didn’t really have the confidence. But then you…” His voice trails off and he looks at Seongwoo, his gaze suddenly pensive. “Um. Well. Anyway. To be honest, your fuck ups were hilarious to watch.”

“Yah.”

“What? It’s not like you didn’t know you sucked.”

“Shut the fuck up—”

Daniel throws a glance towards the bleachers and raises his eyebrows. “Hey, give me a hug.”

“_What_?”

Daniel leans in and Seongwoo holds his breath – not really because of Daniel’s proximity, but to avoid breathing in the smell of two-hour worth of sweat.

“Because I don’t want people to think we’re fighting.”

“We’re not fighting. We’re, like, you know… debating—”

“Just do it, hyung.”

Seongwoo sighs. “You’re wet. And smelly.”

“C’mon, we’re super in love now.”

“For fuck’s sake…” Seongwoo scoots closer and snakes his arms around Daniel’s waist. It’s not really a full body-on-body hug – they are just kind of holding each other, space between their faces and chests so they could still talk.

“Wasn’t that hard, no?”

“Just…stop.”

Daniel smiles. “Anyway…you really don’t remember any of the rules? Of football? I mean you were in the football club for about two years…”

“Hey.” Seongwoo loosens his hold on Daniel’s waist, but doesn’t let him go. “Just because I was a member doesn’t mean I liked football or even wanted to—”

He stops. _Or even wanted to be a member._ Daniel gazes at him thoughtfully with those dark eyes and Seongwoo suddenly feels like under a microscope – examined closely.

Too closely.

“You…didn’t want to be a member? Then why were you…” Daniel asks, his voice void of any playfulness from before. It’s gentle – as if he really cared why Seongwoo did something he so obviously hated.

“I, um…” Seongwoo fidgets with his fingers. “Just…because.”

Daniel searches his face. “…Alright.”

Seongwoo feels hot all over, suddenly nervous. Daniel looks like he found something about Seongwoo he didn’t know before, and for some reason it makes Seongwoo uneasy and self-aware. Daniel’s eyes are turning him inside out and Seongwoo doesn’t like it – doesn’t like the way Daniel seems confident enough to open him up with one look – and likes the possibility that he might succeed even less. Seongwoo turns to the bleachers, to escape Daniel’s piercing gaze, and notices the sophomores sitting on the bleachers watching them like hawks.

Oh, right. This is why he came down here; not for mindless chit chat.

“Hey, Daniel.”

“Yes?”

“I-I am…I’m going to kiss you. Is that okay?”

Daniel jerks and Seongwoo sees the way he had to plant his feet into the ground to restrain himself from jumping away. His eyes are wide. “What? Why? On the roof we said no—”

“I know.” Seongwoo inhales. “But on the bleachers, before I came down here…well, I think your fan club—”

“It’s not—”

“It _is_,” Seongwoo hisses. He hates that Daniel still defends them, just because he doesn’t know what those people say about him. And he has this unsettling feeling that even if Daniel knew, he would still defend them, because he’s just Daniel – nice. “But I don’t think they got the message.”

Seongwoo leans in, his face only inches from Daniel’s. Daniel’s eyes dart all over Seongwoo’s face. “What message?”

Seongwoo’s now only a breath from Daniel’s lips. It’s weird that he remembers how they felt. And it’s even weirder that he is a _little,_ teeny tiny bit excited that he might get to refresh that memory. Daniel bites his lower lip and Seongwoo gulps.

“That you’re off the market,” Seongwoo whispers.

“What…what did they tell you?” Even though his voice is full of concern, Daniel’s not even looking him in the eyes anymore – he’s staring at his mouth and Seongwoo’s heart picks up speed. He’s hyper aware of Daniel’s hands on the small of his back and he’s _nervous_.

“Just…trust me,” Seongwoo says and it comes out like a weak order. “But now _you_ have to kiss _me_.”

“But…” Daniel’s eyebrows scrunch together and then he nods a little. “…Okay.” His eyes flick to Seongwoo’s. “Is it…is it okay with you?”

Seongwoo lowers his gaze and thinks of Sungwoon. His second kiss and it still isn’t with a person he likes. What a life he has there. “Just do it.”

Daniel presses his lips against Seongwoo’s mouth and kisses him.

Seongwoo hears the yells and screams from the bleachers and wolf whistles from Daniel’s teammates, but surprisingly he couldn’t care less.

God, Daniel is _good_ at this.

Daniel does this nice little thing with his chin and Seongwoo just follows his lead, tilting his head, suddenly completely aware of _everything_.

Daniel’s hands dig into his back and Seongwoo’s fingers find themselves in Daniel’s hair, kissing Daniel back with all he has, while Daniel is setting ablaze the remnants of sanity Seongwoo might have left.

When they finally break apart, Daniel’s eyes are hooded and Seongwoo’s out of breath, clutching onto Daniel’s arms.

“How…” Daniel breathes out. “…was that?”

Seongwoo gulps and tries not to stare at Daniel’s lips too obviously. “I…um. Okay. I guess.”

Daniel snickers a little. “Great.”

“_Hey_! Kang Daniel! Ong Seongwoo!”

Seongwoo, still dazed, makes out a silhouette of Daniel’s coach running towards them with a furious face.

“…Ooops,” Seongwoo says absent-mindedly as he lets go of Daniel. “I guess we’re fucked.”

Daniel whines and whispers, so only Seongwoo can hear him. “Just know that it’s _your_ fault.”

“You!” Seongwoo huffs and snaps out of his trance. “Ungrateful bitch – I _helped_ you –”

“Kang, Ong!” The coach is beet red, when he points his meaty finger at them. “You two, _detention_, what the hell you think you’re doing _in front of a teacher_—”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh after my long hiatus, you couldnt have expected that i wouldnt add some kisseus
> 
> aaa omg i love kim jonghyun so much, just sayin  
let me know in the comments what you think of this chapter! what wwould you like to see? whatare you most excited for? do you think the pacing is good or should i slow it down a bit? hahha im all about the slow burn people
> 
> wet haired daniel reminds me of burn it up and energetic era so... if you have trouble imagining it... now you have a good reason to go rewatch the mvs... like .. you know... for research...
> 
> check my twitter @dorkitos to find out more or just ask me anything or whatever, you know the drill - id be super excited to share more with you, bts of this fic and other snippets of my writing if anyone were interested<33


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> double dates, and what we say and what we don't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me actually posting
> 
> one - apologies for any mistakes or typos!! tbh i wanted to revise it again, but then was lazy so here it goes
> 
> two - enjoy!! this chapter was quite difficult for me to write, it underwent many rewrites until i was quite satisfied, so i hope you like it and will let me know your opinion!

“Do you still think this is _my_ fault?”

Daniel grabs the mop and points to it. “This? Yes.”

Seongwoo throws his hands in the air. “If I remember correctly there were two pairs of lips doing the tango.”

Daniel tries to keep a serious face, but the moment Seongwoo says ‘tango’ his bunny teeth show and he chuckles. He immediately looks betrayed by his own self that he’s given in so easily and scoffs. “Still. Your idea. Your fault.”

Seongwoo sighs. “People always find a scapegoat.”

After the kissing on the field, Daniel’s coach, red and furious, gave them an earful, made them stand in the hallway with their arms above their head _and_ _then_ gave them detention. The detention being mopping the whole gym and took place three days later on Friday.

Seongwoo was partly glad – having detention on Friday meant they had a good excuse why not to go to the newspaper club meeting. He’s not sure if he’s ready to face all his members as a part of the newly formed Seongwoo-Daniel couple so the delay was most welcome.

Though cleaning up a gym, which was probably cleaned last somewhen in the eighties, is sure not one of his top Friday activities.

Daniel sighs very loudly and Seongwoo tightens his hold on his mop. “Stop whining.”

“I’m not,” Daniel glares and starts mopping a little too ferociously. “Just…we were supposed to be in the club,” he mumbles. “I mean it’s our first official meeting and I…”

“What, are you that excited about—” Seongwoo looks up.

Kang Daniel is _pouting_.

“Oh.” Seongwoo knows he should be sorry or at least feel a little bit guilty. But the sight of this guy, tall and ripped and just _Kang Daniel,_ being pouty is fucking hilarious.

“Oi, c’mon,” Seongwoo laughs and walks over to him. “The first meetings are super boring. Eunji-noona always tries to get something done, but we usually end up throwing darts against a made up cardboard target and then Woojin gets crazy and starts singing or dancing and we have a mad face-off.”

Daniel looks up and leans against his mop. He’s smirking when he asks, “Really?”

“Yeah. Before Daehwi joined, it was just because we were lazy potatoes… Then Daehwi became a member and we were suddenly much more effective. He’s just as bossy as Eunji-noona and they work well as a team. But now the kid went on holidays to Japan and Eunji doesn’t really like leading alone.” Seongwoo taps his chin. “This time he went with one of our other members, Bae Jinyoung, but you know, the results are the same. He’s not here, so until he comes back, we’re totally useless.”

Daniel laughs. “I see.”

Seongwoo pokes him. “So, don’t worry about it. This is not your coach.”

Daniel shakes his head and shoots him a smile. “I hope not. I haven’t seen coach this pissed off since the time he saw me inhale my chocolates.”

“Well, let’s not do that again – I don’t think I would survive cleaning up the storage room or something.” Seongwoo grins, but his heart hammers against his chest.

The kiss… it was so much more intense than the one they shared on the bench – the first one was a light, gentle kiss, press of lips in spring breeze. The kiss on the field knocked air out of his lungs with its power, like a tornado, fire consuming Seongwoo’s common sense. The ghost of Daniel’s hands pressing into his back was imprinted into his skin and the feel of Daniel’s hair between his fingers gave Seongwoo hard time to fall asleep at night.

Seongwoo lowers his head and starts mopping more furiously. Not that it mattered, because this is business and Seongwoo seems to be much of a prude that he’s letting it get to him like this.

“So, hyung,” Daniel says suddenly. “About the letters…”

“Hey!” Seongwoo’s face flushes and he raises his mop in warning. “We said—”

“What?” Daniel dodges from Seongwoo’s reach and laughs. He looks like a kid – with that wide smile, cackling and hopping from side to side, trying to run away from Seongwoo’s deadly blows. “I’m curious. Who were they for?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“Because…” Daniel purses his lips and then makes flower petals. “Because I’m your boyfriend?”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrow. Daniel laughs and does finger hearts. “Because… I’m super handsome?”

Guess he is.

What. Seongwoo shakes his head. Of course he is. He’s Kang Daniel, after all. The school’s heartthrobTM. Nothing surprising.

“C’mon, hyung,” Daniel chuckles. “We’re business partners. I could use all the facts, no? It’s like a trust relationship, what he have to build.”

“God.”

“I mean I’m the ace of your crushes, right?”

Seongwoo sighs. It doesn’t really matter if he tells him, right? Daniel knows about the letters, about Sungwoon _and_ he’s fake dating him to save Seongwoo’ face, for God’s sake. How further Seongwoo can embarrass himself?

“Kim Sejeong,” Seongwoo says eventually. “She was the first. At my thirteen I think…and she was really kind about the letter.”

“Kim Sejeong?” Daniel says, but he doesn’t really sound surprised. “My whole class had a crush on her in my freshman year…I think everyone had a Kim Sejeong phase at some point of their life.”

Seongwoo laughs at that. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”

“Was there anyone else?”

“Kim Jonghyun.”

Daniel cocks his head. He’s tall, just as tall as Seongwoo is. A few people are. Seongwoo watches him as he leans on the mop, but has to lean _down_ to actually lean on it. “Kim Jonghyun? Who’s he?”

“A former classmate…he moved to Seoul. The letter came back in the mail.”

Daniel nods and Seongwoo wonders if he’s going to regret telling Daniel all of this and if that regret comes and bites him in the ass in the future. “With Sungwoon-hyung and me it’s four. You said five, right? Back then, in the bathroom?”

Seongwoo almost chokes on his spit. “You _remembered_ that?”

Daniel shrugs. “I don’t forget interesting stuff.”

“Lucky me,” Seongwoo deadpans. “The last one…um. Kim Jaehwan.”

Daniel stares at him for exactly two seconds, before he bursts out laughing, doubling over. Then he falls to the ground, laughing and rolling around.

“Yah!” Seongwoo’s face feels like a flaming torch. “You don’t have to—”

“_Jaehwan_?” Daniel catches his breath and meets Seongwoo’s eyes and then starts cackling like a mad man all over again. “Jae—_hwan_—!”

“It was in junior year…” Seongwoo mumbles and lightly kicks Daniel in the side. “I liked him for, like, three weeks. He sang ‘Chandelier’ at the end of the semester at the school festival and I just really felt something when he sang…”

Daniel is still giggling and Seongwoo kicks him one more time. “Stop it, you fucktard. It just moved me, that cover. But then we had this one convo and I realized…”

“He’s a weirdo?” Daniel sits up, laughing.

“Yeah. That type of weirdo to make an excellent friend but not really my crushing material,” Seongwoo admits with a laugh. “So that one ended pretty quickly.”

“Yeah…”

They are silent for a while, before Daniel starts again. “So…you’ve never dated?”

“No. And stop asking me stupid questions.”

“Really? You haven’t?” Daniel looks surprised.

“Why are you so shocked?”

“Well…” Daniel scratches his head. “I mean – and don’t take this the wrong way – but you are really… handsome. And you never dating – it just… doesn’t add up.”

Seongwoo glances at him. Daniel is totally serious and Seongwoo for some reason feels his cheeks warm up. This guy is really something – saying those kind of things with a completely straight face. Seongwoo wants to say something but notices the way Daniel stares at him, still sitting on the ground with those ridiculous long legs of his.

“What?”

“Wait…I _wasn’t_ like your—” Daniel’s eyes slowly widen and Seongwoo feels like throwing himself out of a window. “Was I your first kiss? I wasn’t, right?”

Seongwoo is very careful so his face wouldn’t betray any emotion. “You were.”

Daniel stands up abruptly. When he speaks again, he sounds angry. “_Why_ did you –”

“You know why,” Seongwoo says flatly.

Daniel stops. “…I’m sorry.”

Seongwoo smiles a little. Why does he keep apologizing? Why does he keep thinking that everything’s his fault? “It’s not your fault. And stop with that pity look. Firsts are overrated.”

“They are not. Not to you,” Daniel says and Seongwoo freezes. “You seem to care a lot about that kind of thing.”

Seongwoo slowly looks up. Daniel stands there, a pensive expression on his face. Seongwoo grips the mop tightly and pins Daniel with a glare. “How would _you_ know? You know nothing about me.”

“Oh, right…” Daniel shyly scratches his head. Then he lets it drop, turning away. “Of course. I just…you just seemed to me like the person who would care.” He starts mopping the floor, his back to Seongwoo.

Seongwoo stares at Daniel, his heart beating steadily against his ribcage.

_You know nothing about me._

Seongwoo gulps_. Then… how come you’re right? Knew that I would care?_

Daniel walks over to the bucket with water. “But I personally think that firsts _are_ overrated. It doesn’t really matter…the only thing that matters is who are you going to let be the last.”

There’s this _pang_, when Daniel says those words. Seongwoo returns to mopping the floor, thoughts rolling through his head. Why did it make such an impact? _Who are you going to let… _Why did Daniel choose those words? ‘_Let’_? Somehow it implies a choice and Seongwoo never thought about it that way. To him love was something unexpected, something to be dealt with, something that caught _him_. It never felt like a choice.

_I just…you just seem to me like the person who would care._

Daniel is mopping the floor, whistling a tune, and Seongwoo can’t help but think that Daniel may have seen through him quicker than anyone has ever had before.

Which, regarding the circumstances, is pretty sad.

“We could hang out,” Minhyun says one day and Seongwoo tries not to choke on his sweet bread. “You know, like a double date or something.”

Seongwoo coughs (to get the bread out of his lungs) and starts sweating. “Double date?”

Minhyun leans against the wall next to the doors of their classroom. “Yeah. Since, you know. We’re like two and two. Two couples.”

Seongwoo would be disgusted at the wording if not for the fact he’s terrified. “…couples.”

Minhyun sighs. “Do I have to repeat that, Ong-cheongie? Me and Sungwoon. You and Daniel. Dating. We are four people who happen to be formed into two units, as in love contract. We—”

“I know what you mean, you dick,” Seongwoo scoffs and balls the wrapper from the pastry. “Just…”

Minhyun smiles. “Hey, I know you don’t want to share him now—”

“That’s _not_ it,” Seongwoo spits, his cheeks already reddening, but Minhyun continues, completely ignoring him

“—but we have to, like. Approve and welcome him into our group,” Minhyun interrupts him, ignoring the way Seongwoo’s flipping him off with his eyes only. “C’mon. It’ll be fun. Arcades?”

Arcades are fun.

Going on a double date with your meddlesome best friend, your crush who’s the boyfriend of the said annoying BFF, and your fake boyfriend, is not.

Daniel was pretty surprised, when Seongwoo told him about Minhyun’s suggestion. “Oh,” he said and his eyebrows went up somewhere to the back of his head. “I…um. Do you think…we can pull it off?”

Seongwoo sighed then and only shrugged. “Honestly? No.”

Daniel scoffed. “I guess we should go. We have to do this stuff to be believable – plus you have to show Sungwoon-hyung you’re over him.”

And that’s why Seongwoo is now at the town’s square on Saturday afternoon, sweating buckets – it’s a warm day and sun is shining, but Seongwoo can’t help but worry that he’s going to have his ass exposed. One thing was play a lovey-dovey couple at school, holding hands and do the skin ship between classes – a whole new level of acting is a full afternoon outside the school with Minhyun and Sungwoon, ‘double-dating’.

Seongwoo, needless to say, has just a little hope he’ll save his crumbs of dignity he’s left with.

“Hey,” Daniel greets him, showing up first. “They’re not here yet?”

“Obviously,” Seongwoo murmurs. Daniel is annoyingly good-looking, wearing a simple grey t-shirt tucked into his ripped jeans – the whole look accentuates his amazing body and Seongwoo’s suddenly mad he’s noticing it. For fuck’s sake he could become the Kang Daniel fan club’s president if he keeps this up.

Daniel looks him up and down, smiling a little. “It’s the first time I’m seeing you wearing casual clothes.”

Seongwoo self-consciously smooths down his shirt. He just put on a plain long-sleeved black and white tee and the only jeans that were still clean, but he doesn’t think he looks bad or something – so he doesn’t really get what Daniel’s staring at.

“What?” Seongwoo asks, a little bit irritated.

“Nothing,” Daniel grins a little and continues, looking down at his shoes. “Just…you, um. You look good.”

“Oh,” Seongwoo says and tries to ignore the way it makes him pleased. As if he cares what Daniel thinks about his look. “Thanks.”

Two minutes later, Minhyun and Sungwoon turn up.

“You’re late,” Seongwoo says flatly, while Minhyun laughs. “Ong-ah, if I got money for every time I told you that, I’d be Bill Gates.”

“But you’re not, poor ass bitch,” Seongwoo replies and Daniel cackles. Seongwoo turns to him and sees that Daniel’s eyes are crinkled in a smile, looking like he himself was surprised he found it funny. He then takes Seongwoo’s hand in his. “You’re cute,” he says, grinning brightly.

It’s weird holding Daniel’s hand outside school – the fake-dating business was supposed to be executed only on school grounds and being all out here is a brand new concept for Seongwoo’s brain to absorb. Seongwoo’s never held anyone’s hand like that and it somehow leaves him with mixed emotions – excited… but at the same time empty; because it means nothing. He notices the way Daniel’s hand is fiddling too – as if he too wasn’t used to this and Seongwoo absent-mindedly wonders whether Daniel did this thing before; whether he dated, or if Daniel was a novice in this world of intimacy and just happened to have more natural skills than his awkward business partner Seongwoo.

“Let’s go,” Sungwoon prompts and throws his arm around Minhyun’s waist. “By the time Seongwoo shuts up, it’ll be dusk.”

“Hey,” Seongwoo snorts, but follows them nonetheless. His hand is still gently clasped in Daniel’s and Seongwoo tries to focus on other things – like the blue sky, his shoe laces, Sungwoon’s cute height.

They enter the arcade room and Daniel lets out a whistle and an excited whoop. “Yes! It’s been so long I’ve been here…”

“How come?” Seongwoo asks him, genuinely curious. “I would have thought you were here every day.”

“Why?” Daniel turns to him, smiling. When did he not smile, really? Does Daniel even _have_ like a sleep mode on his face or something?

“Well, I don’t know,” Seongwoo says. “You seem like the type. Playful.”

Daniel laughs, repeating the word under his breath a few times, before replying. “You’re right though – with the playful, I mean. I just don’t go to arcades, I’m more into PC gaming. PC rooms.”

Seongwoo slowly nods. Another thing he and Daniel absolutely do not share. Seongwoo’s shit at PC games – that’s why Sungwoon refuses to let Seongwoo play his support, even though Seongwoo would “try his best”.

They play a few games just for warm up – table football, darts and table ice hockey – and Seongwoo won’t lie; it might not be just PC games he sucks at.

“Wah, you’re _really_ bad at this,” Daniel breathes out in surprise, when Seongwoo sends the puck flying off the table itself, onto the ground. “Are you doing it on purpose for the sake of fun?”

“Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“Maybe?”

“Then yes,” Seongwoo says.

“Don’t try to fool anyone, Ong,” Minhyun chuckles, before turning to Daniel. “He can’t play anything. We’re bringing him to arcades just for a comic relief.”

“I have feelings too, you know,” Seongwoo deadpans.

“Sometimes too many of them,” Minhyun replies.

Seongwoo ignores him and resumes in the game against Daniel. Minhyun might be right though – at some point though Seongwoo gives up even trying playing well. Instead, he just starts exaggerating the whole thing, acting like a pro, keeping a straight face and pretending to be a super-high-class Olympic player; his skit is fun and soon enough Daniel is laughing like crazy pointing at him and slapping his own thigh, while Seongwoo tries to mimic the sportsmen by smirking victoriously. Some people passing by laugh at him too, but Seongwoo doesn’t really care, because skit is a skit. Plus, he’s making his friends laugh, which is good enough for Seongwoo.

Minhyun gesticulates to Seongwoo in general, nodding at Daniel. “See? A comic relief.”

“I think I busted my lung laughing,” Daniel wheezes.

“You mean laughing _at_ someone, you—”

Daniel’s still laughing, when he finally wins the game (embarrassing 21-2). He makes his way from the other side of the table to Seongwoo, throwing his arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders and fist-bumping him. “You’re really something,” Daniel cackles, catching his breath.

“Something as in good something?”

A smile blooms on Daniel’s face then and Seongwoo feels something jump behind his ribcage. The letter thing must have been still lingering in his mind, because there’s no other reason why would he feel this oddly nervous seeing that bright smile. Leave it to Kang Daniel to melt people’s brains just with his existence. Seongwoo is really just another ordinary twat.

“You’re _something_ as in damn weird something,” Daniel replies simply.

Seongwoo doesn’t really know why, but the way Daniel says _something_ makes Seongwoo happy – although it wasn’t really anything in words, it feels like a special compliment for Seongwoo’s… well, personality.

“You must be really whipped,” Sungwoon says to Daniel. Seongwoo notices that Daniel’s still kind of half-hugging him and immediately untangles himself from the hug, feeling for some reason guilty.

Sungwoon still watches him, his face void of any emotion and Seongwoo coughs into his sleeve, trying to avoid his searching gaze.

“So, Daniel,” Minhyun suddenly chirps. He leans against the table hockey and smirks a little. “You surely expected there would be thorough… you know. _Chat_.”

“I, uh…” Daniel fidgets and glances at Seongwoo. It screams _help_.

“Nyeon-ah, please don’t play my mother,” Seongwoo sighs and face palms. “I mean weren’t you—”

“I’m not talking to you now,” Minhyun only deadpans before smiling again at Daniel. “Did you take him out to the movie date?”

“I have, of course,” Daniel answers slowly.

“Did you pay?”

“Um. Yes.”

“What did you see?”

Daniel relaxes a bit and a shadow of something crosses his face… something which makes Seongwoo flinch. “He is such a cutie…” Daniel says. “He wouldn’t go on anything but the reprise of The Notebook”

Both Minhyun and Sungwoon howl with laughter, while Seongwoo chokes.

“Ong, on a first movie date? You’re such a sappy.”

Seongwoo blushes wild red and pierces Daniel with a death glare at which Daniel only smiles sweetly back.

He wants it that way? Fine. Seongwoo can play it this way.

“Yeah, The Notebook, wasn’t really a good choice though,” he starts, looking at Daniel only. “I mean _how_ could I have known that Daniel here would cry during the entire film? He used all my tissues…snot and everywhere…”

Daniel flinches when Sungwoon snort-laughs and tries to poorly hide it behind the cough. Minhyun uncertainly scratches his cheek. Daniel grits through a fake smile. “Babe? Was it really like this? I don’t remember crying…”

“But, boy you did!” Seongwoo dramatically shakes his head and gazes lovingly in Daniel’s eyes. “I was so touched how sensitive you can be… I had no idea…”

“Neither did I,” Daniel only replies, his eyebrow twitching.

“Alright, let’s change the subject…” Minhyun’s tone of voice turns rather more serious and Seongwoo knows it’s the Adult Minhyun speaking. “When did you realize you like _like_ Seongwoo here, Daniel?”

Sungwoon’s smile vanishes from his face too, staring at Daniel, whose face is suddenly guarded.

Seongwoo gulps, all playfulness gone. Did they prepare for this question? They didn’t, right? They’re screwed, they’re so massively screwed, and why won’t _Sungwoon_ stop staring—

“I’m really curious about that too,” Sungwoon says eventually and looks at Daniel, his eyes two slits. “This all seems… rather sudden.”

_They know they_ _know_ _they _know.

“Sungwoon,” Seongwoo jumps in, trying not to sound too panicky. He’s a bluffer, he _can handle_ this— “why don’t we just—”

“It’s okay, hyung,” Daniel cuts in with a small smile. Seongwoo whips his head and Daniel gives him a reassuring grin, before he gently takes Seongwoo’s hand again. “I don’t mind.”

_What the fuck you don’t mind_, _you absolute turniphead_, Seongwoo wants to scream at him. Stupid jock, really, one slip up and everything will go down the fucking drain, they will know that—

“To be honest… I actually… had a _teeny_ tiny thing for him already in the football club. Back then, in middle school,” Daniel says and Seongwoo’s brain circuits.

What.

“Did you, really?” Minhyun asks incredulously. “Oh my God, that’s so cute! How come? He was such a loser.”

“Oi,” Seongwoo frowns, but can’t really react to Minhyun’s diss as per usual. Daniel’s voice is confident and his face a mask of pure genuine. Is this a story made up on the spot? Was Kang Daniel always a natural at deceiving, at improvising, at lying?

Daniel looks like a bashful boy, when he nods quickly, turning away from Sungwoon and Minhyun to Seongwoo. He holds Seoongwoo’s gaze for a second, looking rather pensive, before returning his attention to his nosy friends. “Yeah.”

“Oh, I might vomit rainbows, Nyeon-ah, it’s so damn cute…” Sungwoon mumbles. “But I mean, Kang, are you serious with–”

“Why?”

All three of them look at Seongwoo, and Seongwoo realizes that _he_ asked.

The question was out of his mouth before Seongwoo even registered it – is he a freaking _moron_?

“Um…” Daniel looks panicked again, a silent _what are you doing?_ and Seongwoo heart beats like crazy – what the actual fluff is he doing? Why is he putting Daniel on the spot like this, when they haven’t rehearsed anything?

Seongwoo clenches his fists.

Daniel stares at him, a little betrayed and confused, but Seongwoo can’t help but blame _Daniel_ for all this, because the way Daniel said the lie so casually – it actually _made_ something in Seongwoo believe for a second that it was true. And it was almost an instinct then to ask for the reason – _why would you like someone like me_?

“I…” Daniel fixes his gaze somewhere at the ceiling, suddenly uncomfortable. “I…” Seongwoo’s brain goes to overdrive, looking for ways to get Daniel out of this mess, but before he can make a joke and save him though, Daniel speaks up. “Because if I haven’t met you back then… I don’t think I would’ve become what I am now.”

The response is cryptic, but Seongwoo’s heart stops nonetheless.

_I don’t think I would’ve become what I am now._

The atmosphere is a little bit heavier, but then Minhyun – bless his soul – laughs. “God, Daniel I get why are you such a heartthrob now. You have really _some_ way with words. I almost blushed.”

“Hey, I’m right here,” Sungwoon spits, but he’s grinning. “Come on. Let’s—”

“How about a punching machine?” Minhyun suggests and gesticulates to the machine back in the corner.

“Sure,” Daniel says, smiling, as if the past ten minutes didn’t happen. “I like those.”

“Really? Me too,” Sungwoon laughs and flexes. “I’m good at it.”

“He is,” Seongwoo agrees feebly. His insides still twist and turn, and he tries to shake it off. _Focus_. _Daniel… handled it like a pro, so don’t be a weak link_. “Sungwoon is really good…” He exchanges a brief look with Minhyun, who only nods back. “Sungwoon is the current record holder, I think.”

Sungwoon smirks, satisfied. Daniel frowns a little, though his smile doesn’t falter. “Well, we could compete, no?”

Sungwoon scrunches his forehead.

It’s that moment that Seongwoo senses the competitive fire being lit up and he kind of wants to tell Daniel to shut up, because he doesn’t know what he’s in for – competing with Sungwoon. Minhyun seems to realise the situation too, because he sighs. “Woon—”

“You’re on,” Sungwoon tells Daniel and Minhyun sighs again.

“Great,” Seongwoo says weakly and remembers the exact words he wrote in the letter for Sungwoon.

_You care hella lot about what people think of you. You try to beat them at everything and that makes you really competitive although there’s no need to prove anything. But that’s just who you are – you always feel the need to prove something we already know you can do._

Daniel, unfortunately doesn’t know that – that competing with Sungwoon could result in hours and hours, because that’s just Sungwoon.

They move to the punching machine and Daniel stretches his wrist and arm. “Cheer for me, Seongwoo-hyung,” he says, grinning brightly, totally oblivious to what he just agreed to.

“Haaah,” Seongwoo sighs. “Hwaiting.”

Daniel pouts. “Hey, kid.” He reaches out, pulling Seongwoo closer. “Do it like you love me, mhmh?”

“But I hate you so much right now?” Seongwoo scoffs at the _kid _(he’s older, what the hell is that about?), quietly enough though so only Daniel can hear him. “Hey, just…Sungwoon’s really competitive, so don’t get mad if…you know…and he’s really good…”

Daniel frowns a little, still smiling, but strangely it doesn’t feel like he is. “You think he’ll win.”

Seongwoo stares at him and then carefully replies. “Um. Eventually…yes?”

Daniel laughs under his breath. “You should still cheer for me, though. I’m your one and only now.”

Seongwoo swallows. Daniel’s voice is suddenly low – his bright child-like image completely gone. His eyes are a mix of playfulness and challenge, and Seongwoo wonders if he pressed a button he didn’t know existed. Daniel is still giving him a funny look, moving to the machine with slow steps.

“I’ll start,” Sungwoon says. He steps back a little and then delivers a punch that rattles the whole machine and Seongwoo watches as the numbers keep increasing until they settle on 932.

“Woah, as expected, Woon-ah,” Minhyun says excitedly, pecking his boyfriend on the cheek. Seongwoo turns away.

“Daniel, how about best out of two turns?” Sungwoon’s cheerful voice. He’s sure he’ll win.

“Okay,” Daniel stretches out his right hand and punches.

“Wha—” Seongwoo feels his eyes widen, when the number shows 961. He quickly looks over to Sungwoon whose face has already fallen a little, quickly replaced by determination. Seongwoo bites his lip, uncomfortable – he hated when Sungwoon got discouraged. Seongwoo glances at Daniel and startles, when he finds the younger already staring at him, curious.

“I…um, it’s your turn, Woon-ah,” Seongwoo says and then quickly adds. “G-good job, Daniel! You, um, my…my cutie pie.”

Daniel grins brightly, sensing Seongwoo’s forced sweetness. “Was for you, hon.”

Their competition continues, Sungwoon scoring 965. “Yes! Daniel, your turn!”

Seongwoo watches Daniel as he slowly approaches the machine again. He then raises his left hand, punching hard.

The numbers fly across the screen and Seongwoo tiptoes to see clearly, anticipating with bated breath. The number stops at 926.

“_Woohooo_!” Sungwoon yells in excitement and takes Daniel’s hand, shaking it. “I guess I win?”

“Yeah,” Daniel laughs, scratching the back of his neck. “Congrats, hyung.”

He walks over to Seongwoo pouting slightly. “How about a hug so I wouldn’t be sad?”

Seongwoo huffs a laugh, because he _can’t_ _believe_ this guy.

“Awww,” Minhyun coos.

And Seongwoo sighs and opens his arms. Daniel shoots him a shit-eating grin, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug, while Seongwoo pinches his cheeks. Daniel laughs and swats at his hands. His eyes are crinkled and Seongwoo can’t help but laugh. Kid.

They play then some more, Seongwoo choosing to withdraw from another round of darts and settling on the bench near the claw machines. Sungwoon joins him, while Minhyun stays with Daniel, interrogating him about his and Seongwoo’s relationship.

That doesn’t seem like a safe zone but before Seongwoo can make his way over there and try to rescue Daniel from sinking them both, Sungwoon says. “I like him.”

Seongwoo gulps. “You do?”

“Yeah. He’s really easy-going,” Sungwoon tells him, gesticulating to Minhyun. “Minhyun warmed up to him real quick. That guy’s hard not to like, with those childish jokes and overall friendliness.”

Seongwoo finds it tough to disagree – because Kang Daniel was indeed very hard to annoy.

Sungwoon continues. “And he was a real sport when I’ve beaten him back there, at the punching game…”

“You thought he would be mad?”

“Not really,” Sungwoon snort-laughs. “I just thought he would be like all over a re-match. He’s a jock, physical king or whatever. So I assumed he wouldn’t like losing to a short guy like me.”

Seongwoo glances at Daniel, laughing at how his own darts keep falling off the target, while Minhyun shows him the correct way to throw them. He really seems like a kid – just laughing and trying to copy Minhyun’s posture. “He doesn’t seem like someone to be bothered by that.”

“Yeah…” Sungwoon snickers. It’s a cute sound. Seongwoo lowers his gaze, looking down at his hands. “But I like him. He’s cool.”

The afternoon is pretty much success – both Minhyun and Sungwoon look extremely pleased, whispering “approved” to Seongwoo, when they hug him goodbye. Seongwoo is surprised they haven’t seen through Seongwoo’s bullshit though – he must be a better actor than he thinks. The fact they like Daniel isn’t on the other hand surprising at all. The minute Daniel started talking to Minhyun and joined the teasing-Seongwoo-party, laughing at all Sungwoon’s stories, Seongwoo knew that Daniel was already adopted.

“I’m going that way too. We can go together,” Daniel says eventually, when Sungwoon and Minhyun leave the opposite way, walking away side by side. They look nice – the height difference is perfect to be honest. Sungwoon fits perfectly under Minhyun’s arm and their steps fall in sync easily.

“Seongwoo-hyung?”

“Oh, sorry,” Seongwoo says, smiling. “Just lost in thoughts.”

Daniel cocks his head, following his gaze. “They look good together.”

Seongwoo would like to disagree but the truth is he wouldn’t even if he thought otherwise. Because Daniel’s right – they are perfect for each other. “Yeah. They do.”

“You okay?”

Seongwoo snort-laughs. “It’s been a while since I closed that door. I’m fine.” He absent-mindedly watches his friends’ retreating backs. “I’m sorry about what happened back there. When they were asking you when did you start… and I suddenly asked like a complete idiot…” Seongwoo fidgets with his hands. “I don’t know what came over me…”

Daniel shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

_Because if I haven’t met you back then… I don’t think I would’ve become what I am now._

Seongwoo wants to ask him about the lie he told, but at the same time he doesn’t. So he doesn’t ask and Daniel doesn’t elaborate.

They set off and Daniel lightly tucks at Seongwoo’s sleeve so Seongwoo would get out of the way of a cyclist.

“Why are you so quiet? Is it something with the Sungwoon-hyung plan?” Daniel asks, not quite looking at Seongwoo. “I can still see him from here.”

“Hey, it’s not just a _Sungwoon plan_,” Seongwoo snorts. He looks the way his friends went home, and although he can still make out their silhouettes, Seongwoo seems more focused on Daniel still holding his sleeve, as if he was still scared Seongwoo would jump into the road. “It’s not just a Sungwoon plan. Your crazy fans are part of it too, remember?”

“I guess,” Daniel mumbles and shrugs. He seems to notice his hand and lets go. “How are things though? With Sungwoon-hyung?” Daniel’s tone is nonchalant when he asks. “I mean, are you still in love with him?”

Seongwoo frowns. “Where did that come from?”

Daniel turns away. “No reason, I guess. Nevermind.”

“Just…” Seongwoo’s throat is a little dry. “Don’t ask me that.”

“Sorry,” Daniel immediately apologizes.

“It’s okay.” Seongwoo’s gaze falls to their hands, swaying side by side. “Um... what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Have you ever… have you ever been in love?”

Daniel freezes. “What?”

“You can pass, of course.” Seongwoo fidgets with his fingers. “I just… you don’t seem to have that much trouble acting affectionate with me. Today or just when we’re in public. So… I was wondering if you’ve ever… you know. Been in love.”

Seongwoo internally curses. Why is he asking him that? God, he’s a real hypocrite… but Seongwoo can’t help being curious. He might as well try asking, right?

Daniel is silent for quite a while and Seongwoo is ready to make a joke about anything because it’s not likely that Daniel will answer. So Seongwoo’s taken aback when Daniel does eventually speak.

“We should get going.” He nods towards the road and tugs at Seongwoo’s arm again. “…and about your question…” He glances at Seongwoo before looking away. “I have dated. But being in love… I’m not really sure. So… pass.”

“Alright. Sorry.” Seongwoo bites his lip. “It was a stupid question.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Daniel laughs quietly. “Um… so you think we fooled them?”

“We did more than that,” Seongwoo says, grinning. “They approved of you, imagine. At this point we can get their blessing for our marriage.”

“Some wedding money.”

“A free toaster?”

“Umbrella holder,” Daniel agrees. “Coffee maker, too.”

“Salt and pepper shakers.”

“We wouldn’t get by without those,” Daniel ponders seriously and Seongwoo laughs.

Daniel smirks. “Then… mission accomplished?”

Seongwoo laughs under his breath, making explosion with his mouth and hands. “Yeah. Good job.” Seongwoo doesn’t know how long they will keep this up, but for now he guesses he’s safe. Sungwoon and Minhyun believe he and Daniel are disgustingly in love and it seems that Daniel has his peace at school too. It sounded like a lunatic idea at the beginning, but now it’s more like just another contract – high-school makes you do a lot of crazy things and Seongwoo sadly suspects that this one won’t be his worst idea.

Daniel smiles. And Seongwoo suddenly remembers something.

“Hey. Why did you let him win?”

Daniel’s smile falters slightly in confusion but doesn’t leave his lips. “What are you talking about?”

“About the punching machine.” Seongwoo folds his arms. “You’ve let Sungwoon win. Why?”

Daniel raises his eyebrows. “You noticed?”

“You’re right-handed. On your first try you used right hand, but for the second you punched with your left.”

Daniel laughs a little under his breath. “For someone who has trouble focusing, you’re pretty observant.”

“I am a man of many parts,” Seongwoo says seriously and Daniel shakes his head laughing.

“No argument there.”

They walk in silence for a while, only the sounds of crickets and the buzzing of the streets filling it, but to Seongwoo’s relief as he steals a glance at Daniel, the silence is not really awkward. Daniel has his head slightly tilted back, looking up at the evening sky.

“You’re not as obnoxious as I thought,” Seongwoo says, breaking the quiet.

“As I recall from you letter you _actually_ thought I was—”

“Shut it, fuckface.”

“Only presenting the facts, my dearest boyfriend.”

“I’ll take it back—”

Daniel chuckles, patting Seongwoo’s shoulder. “Okay, okay, sorry. Continue. You thought I was obnoxious?”

“Yep,” Seongwoo replies, deliberately ignoring the way Daniel snorts. “With your jocky aura and rep, I thought you would like showing off.”

“I like showing off,” Daniel says. The glint from the passing cars casts yellow and red light on his face. Seongwoo watches as it draws patterns against Daniel’s cheek, while the latter continues. “But it’s better not to ruin people’s mood with something like this.”

“You were afraid you would ruin the mood if Sungwoon lost?”

Daniel shrugs. “He looked like he would be really upset.”

Seongwoo nods. “He would. Back in junior year he was picked on because of his height – they stopped when Sungwoon beat them in every sport during PE. He still has the spirit so no one would try that shit again though.”

“I…didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, that’s why I was surprised.” Seongwoo shakes his head. “Don’t you ever do anything just because _you_ want to?”

They were walking through the streets lit up by tall green lamps. The evening rolled around quickly without Seongwoo noticing, and it’s not until now Seongwoo realizes that Daniel’s been actually walking him home.

“Of course I do. I did it because _I_ _didn’t_ _want_ to upset Sungwoon-hyung,” Daniel replies, his step easily matching Seongwoo’s. Daniel glances at Seongwoo then, looking a bit hesitant before he adds. “And you looked uncomfortable too.”

They stop in front of Seongwoo’s house, Daniel looking up at the apartments’ windows. Seongwoo sees that Jisung’s already home – their lights in the kitchen are on.

“That’s me,” Seongwoo says, nodding to the building. “I…um. You didn’t have to walk me home…” Seongwoo feels his neck heat up, when Daniel shakes his head and smiles.

“S’okay. Go in.” It kind of feels like an end to a date and Seongwoo is awkward. He waves at him lamely and Daniel laughs, waving back.

Before he closes the door after him though, he glances over his shoulder just to find Daniel still standing there, watching him. Daniel opens his mouth as if he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have, but Seongwoo only snorts. Daniel grins and calls after him then, catching Seongwoo off guard one more time. “Hyung! I…” His voice softens. “…I had really fun today. Thanks.”

And with that he gesticulates at Seongwoo to go in and Seongwoo thinks that Kang Daniel may be the sweetest fake boyfriend he could have scored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> isn't soft ongniel fluff what we need in life only
> 
> the notebook is not the movie i cried at but i guess it's the most romantic-sparks-chick-flick-film i could have thought of, so sorry to all the notebook fans!!
> 
> punches were thrown!! haven't lied on twitter!!!
> 
> what did you think of the chapter? what do you expect, what are your theories, who will kiss kiss fall in love first?  
let me know down in the comments or @dorkitos on twitter~  
thank you for reading as always, see you next chapter<33


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fake bf programme: twenty questions game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here it finally is, the chapter that was long expected and couldn't be avoided!  
prepare again for cheesiness (as ive already warned you so long ago in the tags)
> 
> if you check my twitter yk i dropped some teasers - hope it will help you enjoy the story even more<3
> 
> the warmest thank you to all of you who still enjoy the fic and wait for it, and bigger thank you to those who take time to write me those lovely comments!! it makes me feel that those who read it, /do/ actually exist lol
> 
> anyways, enjoy reading and let me know down in the comments whatever comes to your mind, as always i will be really happy and immensely grateful for anything, including criticism, thoughts, expectations, opinions!! feedback is really something i always enjoy reading<33
> 
> thank you again sm <33

The concept of having Kang Daniel as his boyfriend is something that Seongwoo finds very strange to get used to.

The morning rides are sure convenient (blame his lazy ass), but everything else is still overwhelming – his hand is now constantly held and the feeling of Daniel’s hand in his is slowly turning to habitual; like the press of a watch against your wrist. Seongwoo goes down the hallways and he’s labelled – Kang Daniel’s boyfriend. And people _won’t_ shut up – whispering, whispering, whispering when they see him, and Seongwoo knows they talk about him. And the worst is, it never ends there. Although the football pitch incident happened (how Seongwoo started lamely referring to the kiss they shared on the football field), Daniel’s fans are still kind of just loitering around – far enough for Daniel to feel at peace, but close enough to make Seongwoo’s life way below average.

“They try to ask me one more time if I’m a third-generation bachelor and I’ll kick someone for real,” Seongwoo mutters as he trudges into the classroom, sliding to his desk. He has one free period and then there’s the evil in form of afternoon classes and the newspaper club meeting, so he might as well be prickly.

“Why would they do that?” Minhyun asks absent-mindedly and places a chocolate milk on Seongwoo’s table, while keeping his face glued to the textbook he’s currently studying. Ah, Minhyun. What a nerd, but still a real treasure. Seongwoo’s spirits lift immediately as he happily grabs the milk box.

“Because it seems that’s the only thing Daniel would find attractive about me,” Seongwoo replies and scoffs. “As if, when I have all _this_.”

“I didn’t even have to look at you and I know you’re gesticulating to your face,” Sungwoon says, appearing out of nowhere. He takes in the fact that Minhyun is completely absorbed in the exercises in his workbook and chooses not to disturb him (wise) and turns to Seongwoo, jumping to sit on his desk.

“Hey,” Seongwoo greets him, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve. “What’s up?”

“I have a ten-minute break before our class has Literature, I thought I’d visit.” Sungwoon nods at him. “Daniel?”

“In class, where else,” Seongwoo mumbles.

“Well, I don’t know. I thought he’d be here,” Sungwoon says matter-of-factly, and Seongwoo knows it was a logic assumption since all classes have a ten-minute break now, but still. It really sounded like what Daniel said about people wanting to spend as much time as possible with the one they like. Ugh. Sungwoon and Daniel unconsciously ganging up on him like this is not a pleasant thought.

“He has a self-study class.”

“Awww,” Sungwoon coos and Seongwoo raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Why are you cooing?”

“You already have his timetable memorized,” Sungwoon says and Seongwoo flushes.

“It’s not like that,” Seongwoo defends himself but then he realizes that Sungwoon doesn’t find it weird. Because he’s supposed to be super in love with Daniel. Right. Seongwoo is the only one who feels kind of uncomfortable and embarrassed because he in fact isn’t dating Daniel. So. Him remembering Daniel’s classes is just weird.

“By the way,” Sungwoon says suddenly, cutting through Seongwoo’s thoughts. “Is Daniel okay with heights?”

“What?” Seongwoo flinches and something akin to absolute terror overtakes his brain. “Why?”

“I was thinking we could maybe go for a hike sometime. The weather should be—”

“Um,” Seongwoo laughs uneasily. “I, uh, I’m not sure, really…”

Sungwoon cocks his head. “Does he like hiking?”

_How the fuck I would know. _“Uh—”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Sungwoon takes out something out of the pocket of his pants and gently taps Minhyun’s shoulder. “Babe. I’ve got the tickets for your sister’s kids—”

Minhyun slowly lifts his head and stares blankly at the tickets before he realizes that he has to actually open his mouth to produce words. “Oh. God, sorry but she told me the kids got sick… they won’t make it…” Minhyun massages his temples. “I’m really sorry, I forgot to tell you, Woon-ah. Can you sell them?”

Sungwoon’s face falls. “I can’t think of anyone with kids who’d be interested in—” he then suddenly stops and turns to Seongwoo, eyes full of hope. “Oh! Does Daniel have any little siblings?”

Seongwoo swallows.

Okay. This is a totally valid question one might ask a friend regarding basic information about their boyfriend.

And yeah, Seongwoo knows stuff - he knows what Daniel’s lips feel like, knows that he eats a few noodles without sauce before he mixes the whole thing up, knows how his laugh sounds like and knows the exact spot where Daniel puts his hand, when he snakes it around Seongwoo’s waist.

But he has no _actual_ information, not this kind of information that Sungwoon wants from him, because despite everything – Daniel is still a fake boyfriend. A fake boyfriend, so in the same chapter with total strangers in Seongwoo’s book. He knows nothing about _about_ Daniel – at least knows probably as much as Sungwoon does. God, probably less than Sungwoon because of Seongwoo’s attention spasm being like zero.

So yeah, Seongwoo is kind of a dumbass, and is kind of in serious trouble.

“Ong? Did you hear me?”

Sungwoon’s looking at him and Minhyun is looking at him (partly, because he’s still studying) and Seongwoo might be a little sick.

“I – Daniel…um, I…actually—” he’s so ready to make up a lie, something about complicated family relationships or a sad soap opera drama within the Kang household or some other shitty crap, when something happens.

Something _amazing_.

Amazing, as in the universe itself has decided not to be a total dick and saves Seongwoo for the first time in his freakingly average life.

His phone starts ringing.

His phone starts ringing and Seongwoo jumps out of his seat, grabbing it like a drowning man catching a life cord.

“Wow! God! Sorry, guys,” Seongwoo exclaims maybe too loudly, but he so does not care now. “Super important, gotta take this, ugh, you know how it goes…”

He rushes out of the classroom and picks it up, without even looking at the caller’s ID. “God, whoever you are, you just literally saved my life, like seriously I love you…”

“Are we at that again, hyung?” echoes from the other side and Seongwoo’s face burns up in flames. The universe is back at playing a dick.

“Daniel,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth, ignoring Daniel’s jab. “What up?”

“I need you,” Daniel says and for some stupid reason, the words make Seongwoo pause and gulp; Daniel though quickly adds in a whisper. “Uh, I mean like, need your boyfriend-ness.”

“Really?” Seongwoo snorts. “Boyfriend-ness?”

“I—I…” Daniel’s voice sounds hesitant. “I am kind of in a tight situation, um, my…um…”

It’s been only a little over a month, however Seongwoo is already able to recognize this tone – the tone when Daniel doesn’t want to say something unpleasant, but seems to be left with no other choice; so he just kind of circles around it, looking for a way to say it politely. He’s lucky Seongwoo’s used to saying unpleasant things 70% of his time, and 100% not caring about the politeness whatsoever.

“Your crazy fans?”

“Don’t call them that. And well, yeah. They are kind of, um. In the self-study classroom and I need to study. Would you mind, sort of picking me up? And then go somewhere…um…”

“Sure, buddy,” Seongwoo replies and tries not to laugh at Daniel’s surprised squeak. “I’ll be right there.”

He texts the group chat he has with Minhyun and Sungwoon, so they would know he didn’t ditch them in favour of going home and sets off. It takes him exactly two minutes to arrive at the self-study room and takes him even less to notice the lunatics “casually” hanging out there, sitting at desks with their own books opened. Daniel’s sitting again in the back, scribbling into his textbook, nose practically touching the pages.

Seongwoo takes a deep breath.

Okay, let his inner actor come to the surface. Thank God that the supervisor for the afternoon self-study classes is Mrs Song, who’s more on the deaf side. “Daniel-ah!” Seongwoo whisper-shouts, leaning slightly into the room through the classroom’s window.

None of Daniel’s classmates seem to be bothered by that and keep on studying, but Daniel’s… _friends_ scowl upon seeing him. Daniel on the other hand, appears to be delighted as he quickly shoves his books into his backpack. He hastily makes his way to the front where Mrs Song’s sitting and tells her something quietly. Seongwoo watches in amazement as the teacher only nods with a smile and gestures Daniel out of the room. Daniel bows and hurries off, Seongwoo in tow.

“Okay, _how_ the hell did you do that?” Seongwoo asks. The funny thing is, he knows _how_ he did it – he’s Kang Daniel and teachers just know that Kang Daniel can’t be doing anything remotely bad such as skipping school. However, Seongwoo can’t believe he just saw it live and saw that it actually works.

“I just said I have one-on-one study session with a senior,” Daniel simply says and stops his walking when they are far enough from the classroom. “It’s not like I lied.”

“You did,” Seongwoo says flatly. “I’m not going to study.”

“Well, then it was a half-lie, but they will survive,” Daniel replies and shrugs. “Football captain has to have some perks.”

“Some,” Seongwoo says sarcastically and Daniel just snort-laughs in response.

“I was surprised actually,” Daniel starts and avoids his gaze, choosing to look out of a window instead. “That you… agreed to, you know. Take me away.”

Seongwoo shakes his head. “This is a two-way deal, Kang. So don’t worry about that.” Seongwoo puts on his school sweater and nods. “Well, Mr Football Cap, where to?”

“Um…” Daniel scratches his cheek. “…roof?”

Seongwoo raises an eyebrow. “You want me to take you to the roof, where people except for class presidents aren’t allowed to go? Again?”

Daniel lets his corners rise up and Seongwoo swears the toothy smile promises trouble; how come people can’t see it? Daniel _is_ a trouble-maker in the making. Somehow though, it makes Daniel more likeable in Seongwoo’s head.

Or more tolerable. Less annoying. Whatever.

When they arrive at the roof, Daniel immediately throws his backpack to the side and runs to the railing. “God, I love this place.”

“Hey, hey, carefully,” Seongwoo calls after him and quickly follows to catch up in case Daniel was enough of an idiot to fall over. “Technically we’re not here, so if we die there will be no financial compensation.”

Daniel cackles and flashes him a grin. “You wouldn’t let me die, would you, my love?”

Seongwoo makes a gagging noise and Daniel laughs again. It’s a nice sound.

“Are you actually going to study?” Seongwoo asks him and sits down cross-legged, reaching out for his phone to do some flappy birding.

Daniel is quiet for a while and then he takes a seat next to Seongwoo, stretching out his legs. “Nah.”

“Exactly what I was expecting.”

“I’m glad I lived up to the expectations.”

There’s about five seconds of silence (in which Seongwoo manages to die exactly two times in his quest of being a flappy bird champion) before Seongwoo lifts his head. Daniel’s been looking at him with a searching expression, but the moment Seongwoo turns to him, he just smiles and averts his gaze. Seongwoo bites his lip and puts his phone back into his pocket. “Well… theoretically speaking…”

When someone says “theoretically speaking” it can mean a lot of things – from a nice idea to absolute bullshit. Coming from Seongwoo, it will probably be the latter. Judging from Daniel’s face, he thinks it too.

“Yes…?”

“Well, theoretically speaking we could be studying. Just not for school?”

“What?” Daniel turns his body to the side to face him. Seongwoo always got little uneasy when Daniel did this thing; Daniel’s eyes were the kind of eyes that could just _hold_ people’s attention – and even if Seongwoo had crush on him two years ago, he can’t help but suddenly feel caught for a second by that stare. Nervous even, when that piercing look fully focuses on him.

“This fake dating thing…” Seongwoo starts, feeling his neck heat up so he chooses to stare at Daniel’s left eyebrow. “Well, both Sungwoon and Minhyun asked me some questions about us. Like super basic, so I got away with half-assed answers, but I realized we would need to actually work a little to maintain the image.” Seongwoo folds his arms. “You know. Even if we are doing top notch job with the skin ship and hand holding and, hell, even had a hot make out—”

Bad move. Just the memory of the kiss is rushing all the blood Seongwoo has into his face. Abort, abort, this is _not _the time to be thinking about Daniel’s amazing kissing skills when that guy sits literally right in front of him.

Daniel though seems to catch up on Seongwoo’s obvious change of mood, because he grins like the cheeky little shit he is, a smile full of content. “Hot? I’m glad you also remembered it that way.”

Also?

Seongwoo might imagine it, but he could swear he sees Daniel blush. Before he can comment on it though, he decides it’s probably better to just let it go and move on from the kissing topic, so his face would cool off. “Anyways. I don’t think that will cut it. We need to _know_ stuff for us not to get caught.”

Daniel seems to think it over and starts absent-mindedly playing with Seongwoo’s shoelaces. “The other day I almost fainted when Jaehwan asked me if I’m thinking about getting you a birthday gift and I realized I don’t know when your birthday is.”

Seongwoo recalls the panic he had just moments ago for the same exact reason, when Sungwoon asked him about whether Daniel had siblings. Yeah. If they had done this earlier, they could have avoided all these mini heart-attacks.

“We should do some background check on each other then, I guess,” Seongwoo says. “I could mail you some info—”

“I have a better idea,” Daniel interrupts him and then snort-laughs. “And really? Mail?”

“Hey,” Seongwoo huffs. “Mail is still perfectly working.”

“In what age though?” Daniel asks, grinning like an idiot. “Is your horse tightly tied in front of the saloon?”

Seongwoo opens his mouth to deliver a curse word, but to his surprise all he can do is laugh. “So cheap, Kang.” And then he laughs again, although he doesn’t even know why anymore.

Daniel starts laughing too, his eyes crinkling into moon crescents. “Cheap, and yet so effective.”

“Alright,” Seongwoo sighs. “What perfect idea _you_ have then, to up our game plan?”

Daniel holds up his hands, as if presenting the newest market trinket and announces. “Twenty questions.”

Seongwoo whines. “Daniel, can you get any cheesier?”

Daniel smiles a little. “Says someone who actually wrote me a letter—”

“Low blow,” Seongwoo growls at him, while Daniel just laughs. “Low. Blow. And twenty questions are so middle-school—”

“I think it’s perfect,” Daniel arguments and tugs at Seongwoo’s shoelaces more forcefully. Seongwoo slaps his hand away and Daniel flinches in surprise as if he didn’t even notice he was playing with them in the first place.

“Sorry,” he apologizes quickly and rubs his neck. “Twenty questions are the fastest way though, and also…” here Daniel does a little pause, before he continues “…we can actually find out stuff a boyfriend would know, without going round and round the topics.”

Seongwoo hates twenty questions. He hates the concept, and he hates the cheesiness and most of all he hates that Daniel might be right. “But I call the right of pass.”

“Sure. Passes are allowed.”

“Fine,” Seongwoo says and plops down on his back, looking up at the sky. “Also, you begin. I have no idea what I should ask you.”

Daniel chuckles and says. “Really? I have tons to ask you.”

He then settles his back against the low wall that serves as railing, propping his legs up on his bag. Seongwoo observes the way Daniel’s shoes are worn off and observes Daniel’s backpack being covered in badges and small pins of cute cats.

“One,” Daniel says and Seongwoo stiffens against his own will. What will he ask? About other letters? About Seongwoo’s sad crushes or why he wrote the letters in the first place? Seongwoo wouldn’t really blame him if he did – he’d be curious too, if he were in Daniel’s shoes. Or will he ask about Sungwoon, to grasp the whole situation? Maybe Minhyun—

“What’s your favourite manga?”

Seongwoo’s eyes fly open and he sits up straight. “_What_?”

Daniel looks over at him. His skin is smooth and glowing in the afternoon sunlight, making him look like a marble statue. Seongwoo would almost say beautiful. “Manga?” Daniel scratches his cheek. “I’ve noticed you had Pokémon home screen before you changed it to me—” he shrugs, before continuing. “So, I wondered if you were into any mangas?”

Seongwoo slowly says. “Um. I really like the ones—”

He carefully lunges himself into naming all the mangas he’s read and anime he’s watched and surprisingly, Daniel’s face literally lights up.

The hour there passes then rather quickly – Daniel going through all the volumes of mangas and Seongwoo replying with his own list of favourites; they argue about the art styles and then argue some more about the supposed “best-and-must top three”; they debate in which of the universes they would be likely to survive and in which they would die the fastest and they talk about other things they watch and enjoy. And to Seongwoo’s surprise it’s not uncomfortable at all – him and Daniel finding out that they actually _have_ stuff to babble about.

By the time Seongwoo has to get back to his afternoon classes and Daniel to his football practice, it seems as if they talked for hours on that roof; something Seongwoo would never have thought possible with Kang Daniel.

“I thought you were a jock,” Seongwoo snorts, when they make their way downstairs. “Turns out you’re a pretty hardcore geek.”

Daniel scoffs. “Stop throwing people in bags, hyung.”

“I’m sure you had one for me too,” Seongwoo deadpans. “I mean, a label. This is high-school.”

Daniel stops walking. They are about to go separate ways; Seongwoo to the left, Daniel down and outside to the football pitch. “I didn’t. Not really. I can come up with one now, though.”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrow. “…Well?”

Daniel just gives him a lopsided smile. “Drama clown.”

“_What_?”

“Don’t forget the club meeting, hyung – see you in the afternoon!”

And before Seongwoo can curse him, Daniel waves him goodbye and jogs down the stairs.

Seongwoo is glad Daniel reminded him of the afternoon club meeting though – Seongwoo knows first-hand that Jung Eunji is certainly not someone who would let slide poor attendance. This semester she excused Daniel and Seongwoo that one time (that day of their detention, and Seongwoo suspects she was soft on them, because Daniel is still a club newbie), but she also said then that they used up all their passes and then casually told them she used to do kick box.

So. Seongwoo’s glad Daniel reminded him.

As it’s been already some time of his and Daniel’s charade, the club members have finally got over the fact that Ong Seongwoo is not a _single loser anymore_ (Woojin’s words) and also that his new boyfriend is _the_ one and only Kang Daniel (though it took them way more time to believe _that_ fact). Seongwoo was glad – it’s enough that the whole school still gives him creepy and judgemental looks; he doesn’t need scepticism and stares from his club mates too.

Although it would really help if they stopped humming the wedding march into his ear every time Daniel walks into the club room.

Otherwise, Seongwoo thinks the club meeting goes pretty smoothly today – he and Woojin got smacked by Eunji only two times, Somi hasn’t thrown her pencils on the ground out of anger yet, Daehwi isn’t huddled at his easel to relieve stress, Jinyoung isn’t lying on one of the corner desks with a book over his face and Jihoon hasn’t kicked anyone. So far, so good.

“Let’s just,” Eunji sighs a little. Tired of life. Seongwoo can relate. “Let’s just try to sum up the points we’ve been discussing, okay?”

“Noona,” Woojin whines. “Everyone understood, why would we go through that shit again?”

Eunji leans over and smacks his shoulder. Three times, Seongwoo counts. Still good, though.

“Because I’m the president and I said so. What news you’ll cover, you munchkin?”

Woojin holds up his hands and recites obediently. “The fact that our well-respected and beloved principal was given the prize for something by our mayor. Also, our school’s having a new fountain installed apparently, with some statue. A carp, I guess.”

“Good. Less ambiguity though. Daehwi?”

Daehwi purses his lips and knocks on the table. “I’ve put together some interesting events that are going to be in the neighbouring town. Some of my classmates are working there – origami fest and public speaking.” He looks over to Jinyoung. “Jinyoungie took some photos of the site, you should check it out, noona.”

Daniel whistles appreciatively. “Wow. You two seem like professionals already.”

Jinyoung smirks. “You’ll get there, hyung. All you have to do is call us sunbaes.”

Daniel laughs out loud and starts extravagantly bowing. “Oh, Jinyoung-sunbae, teach me your wisdom.” Jinyoung chuckles and props his legs on Jihoon’s lap. “Jihoon-hyung, you should bow too. You’re also a newbie.”

Daehwi grins at the way Jihoon snorts and flips Jinyoung off, while Woojin just theatrically gasps and slaps his shoulder. “Jihoon-ah! Manners!”

“Yeah, Jihoonie,” Daniel feigns shock. “You can’t behave in this animalistic way…” They all laugh and Seongwoo only watches Daniel fist-bumping Woojin and high-fiving Somi, while Jihoon pouts, earning himself a comforting pat from Jinyoung.

Seongwoo felt almost jealous how easy was it for Daniel and Jihoon to make friends, when it took Seongwoo way longer to adjust to the club. Daniel and Jihoon have slipped into the newspaper club like two pieces of puzzle they didn’t even know were missing – they clicked with the rest of them so well that Seongwoo couldn’t believe they joined just this semester. When Jinyoung and Daehwi returned to Korea, they immediately became all buddy-buddy only after one club meeting. It was only recently though Seongwoo’s realized he felt glad that Daniel got on with his friends so well. Somehow it was relieving – because it was like two worlds merging into one and Seongwoo wanted them to merge well.

“—Seongwoo?”

Seongwoo flinches and looks up. Everyone’s looking at him. Shit. “Um…yes?”

Eunji sighs, while Daniel just chuckles and puts his hand on his thigh, gently rubbing it. “Hyung, noona was just asking if you could take on the article on our football match against K-high. She has exams and both Jihoon and I will be playing so we obviously can’t really—”

“No,” Seongwoo mumbles, a little too quickly. “I’m sorry, um, I don’t think I’m the right person to—”

Eunji huffs. “Why not? You were in that middle-school football club or something, surely you know something about football?”

Seongwoo grimaces and answers, embarrassed. “…Not really. Not anymore. I mean, I didn’t even get all the rules while I was _in_ the club, I was playing because my dad was—um…” He slowly stops himself. No need to say more than they need, right? “Well. Not into football, really.”

Seongwoo can feel Daniel’s sharp gaze and he knows that Daniel noticed the little lull – noticed that Seongwoo deliberately left something out.

“Alright,” Eunji sighs. “Somi?”

“Sure,” Somi replies and then coughs. “But can we… try to speed up? It’s already late and I would like to go home at some point of this day.”

Eunji scoffs and five minutes later, they are all out of the clubroom, with Eunji’s defeated _let’s do it next week_ and goodbye. After they are finally finished with closing the clubroom, and the club is dismissed, Daniel turns to Seongwoo and suggests eating out. “I mean it’s pretty late, hyung,” Daniel says and gesticulates to the sky in general. “I guess we could grab something for dinner while we’re in town.”

“You say it like our town is big enough for us to say ‘while we’re in town’,” Seongwoo laughs. “This is a hole which happens to have a square.”

“That’s a town,” Daniel argues and grins. “There are street stalls with tteokbokki.”

Seongwoo is weak against offers of food, weak against tteokbokki in particular, and surprisingly starting to feel a little bit weak against Kang Daniel’s grin – it is just humanly impossible to deny this guy anything when he activates those puppy eyes, fuck. “Alright. We can go, I guess.”

“Yay! Tteokbokki!”

They make their way out of the school to Daniel’s motorbike, still parked in the usual spot under a tree.

“Hyung,” Daniel says, taking out the second helmet from the motorbike storage compartment. He’s not really looking at him, fiddling with the lock, when he asks. “By the way… um. Seven.”

Seongwoo laughs. “We’re still doing the twenty questions thing?”

Daniel shrugs. “We’ve never got to the twenty, did we?”

“We most probably have.”

“I told you – the debates about Sponge Bob –”

“—aren’t part of get-to-know-your-fake-bf programme, I know, I know. So? Seven?”

“Why… did you join the football club then?” Daniel cocks his head. “What did you mean that it was for your dad?”

Seongwoo laughs. “It’s not anything dramatic, don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Daniel holds up his hands. “I just sense a tragic back story, there.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.” Seongwoo snort-laughs. “Short version – my dad really likes football, playing it, watching it. So… I wanted to learn to play too.”

Daniel cocks his head and Seongwoo can see that Daniel wonders what’s the _long_ version.

“Really, Daniel, it’s nothing angsty. Just not in the mood for long storytelling and I’m not being a drama queen now. So, pass, or whatever. I’m lazy.”

“So as usual.”

“Hey!” Seongwoo scoffs and punches his shoulder, while Daniel chuckles. “You sure are a brat.”

Daniel shrugs and makes a face at him. “Only the best teach me.” He raises his eyebrows so Seongwoo wouldn’t miss who exactly he means.

“You’re a brat,” Seongwoo says again, because he has nothing better and Daniel only grins, handing him the helmet. “Thanks.”

Daniel nods and puts on his own helmet. “Hold on tight.”

Seongwoo gets on the motorbike and it’s funny how quickly he obeys comparing to the first time Daniel told him so; now after only a few weeks it’s become a familiar feeling, getting on the motorbike and holding Daniel’s hips so he wouldn’t fall.

“Ready?”

“Ready!”

They set off and Seongwoo holds on tight just like Daniel told him to, breathing in the crisp evening air and the faint smell of sweetness from Daniel’s jacket.

***

“Any kinks?”

“_What_?”

“I’m playing the Twenty questions, Daniel. And that’s my question Ten—”

“But—why would you—”

“Boyfriends should know this stuff. So, I asked if you got any kinks? Don’t worry, this is a completely shame free zone.”

“Hyung—”

“Hair pulling? Biting? BDSM—?”

“I can see you grinning. I _know_ you’re just making fun of me.”

“Daniel. You wound me. I would never.”

“Will you _stop_ smirking? And. Hard. Pass.”

***

**kang daniel**

would u mind helping me w/ my article? meeting is tmw and i haven’t finished it yet:/

**self**

how come? u had a whole week

**kang daniel**

i mailed it on tuesday but noona returned it with frowning emojis

help me pls

**self**

was this part of our deal

**kang daniel**

:(((

**self**

ugh

fine

where r u?

**kang daniel**

thank you!!

school yard. by the gym.

**self**

why that far? why not by the library or closer to the back gates

**kang daniel**

it’s a bit far, but its nice here

**self**

oH

**kang daniel**

what

**self**

ppl were staring at u so youre hiding arent you

**kang daniel**

just. will u come?

**self**

be there in five

They sit on the ground, leaning their backs against the wall of the sport gym – it’s a nice day, sunlight warming up their cold hands, but Seongwoo still keeps his black hoodie on over his school uniform – the whole combination of the nice weather, the comfy hoodie and the whole concept of lunch break makes him feel really cozy. Daniel is sitting cross-legged next to Seongwoo, his notes and binder open on his lap, a pencil behind his ear – more for the show than purpose, Seongwoo suspects.

“Twelve?” Seongwoo eventually says and Daniel looks up, intrigued.

They’ve been trying to make something of Daniel’s poorly written article and follow all Eunji’s dissatisfied smileys and Somi’s tornado of pink notes and corrections for the past twenty minutes. Daniel looked a bit in a slump because of it, so Seongwoo decided they should take a break – Daniel’s been working really hard and he deserved it; Seongwoo even felt the need to give him his sweet chocolate donut (Seongwoo’s ultimate sacrifice) so Daniel would cheer up a little.

They’ve been meaning to discuss new film releases to relax their minds, but the twenty questions game came in handy, when Seongwoo realized there was something he wanted to ask Daniel for quite a while now. “Twelve. Why were you so straightforward with me about not having any feelings for me? When you say absolute shit to your fan club?”

“It’s not a fan club,” Daniel says, but it’s just an automatic reply by now, to be honest. His shoulders sag a little as if he himself started pondering whether Seongwoo’s words might be closer to the truth than he dares to admit. “They’re just… looking up to me.”

“They want to bang you.”

“_What_?!”

Daniel’s face reddens and Seongwoo laughs. “Sorry. But it’s true.” Seongwoo looks him up and down and wolf-whistles, pretending to be one of Daniel’s crazy fans. “_Sunbae! Look at me please once – let me smell your hair_—”

“_Stop_ it.” Daniel slaps his hand, his face still red as blood, but Seongwoo sees he’s forcing himself not to laugh. “Don’t say stuff like this…”

“No, for real now.” Seongwoo purses his lips. He nudges the unfinished article aside and pokes Daniel’s hand resting on the notepad with his own pencil. “You gave me an answer. And I’m _not_ asking because I have an interest or something,” he adds quickly. “I’m just curious – you could say the same to your fans and they would let you go. You would have your peace, even without me. So…why can’t you?”

Daniel looks sideways and scratches his left ear. “I don’t know.”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrows and Daniel breathes out. “I think… I think it’s partly because of the expectations.”

Seongwoo scrunches his forehead. “Expectations?”

“Yeah…” Daniel leans back, staring at two birds sit on top of the fence in front of them. “When they’re with me, talking to me… I can see it. Hear it. That they are just there and expect from me something…” Daniel’s face turns serious. “… And I just can’t say anything.”

Seongwoo hesitates before he speaks again “But what I wrote in the…” Seongwoo can’t bring himself to say the word _letter_ out loud. He’s still mad and embarrassed it got out and that Daniel read it. “Well, it’s basically what the fans tell you too, no? Why was my case different?”

“Because it _was_ different,” Daniel sighs. “It was different, because you didn’t expect _anything_. You just…” Daniel gazes at him and Seongwoo wished he wouldn’t. “You wrote everything you felt – without expectations, any agenda or wanting anything in return. Not even an answer, just _nothing. _Those raw emotions and honesty… I felt that. And I thought that I owed you an answer.”

Seongwoo gulps. “You were not supposed to see it.”

“I didn’t know that,” Daniel says and shrugs. “But that’s how it is. Never before had someone laid their emotions out there this openly for me and didn’t want me to do something – and that’s why it was different. You _deserved_ an answer.”

Seongwoo inhales and snorts, even though his heart feels kind of heavy. “Then your fan base should write you a letter each for you to reject them?”

“I don’t know… they would still want me to… well, you can imagine…” Daniel laughs and Seongwoo thinks that he laughs too easily; but the strange thing is that his laugh is addicting – it makes Seongwoo smile too. Daniel shakes his head and glances at him with an open look. “They’ve never told me anything, didn’t confess or asked me out. You went all in. They never did. They are kind of just… _there_. You can’t reject someone who hasn’t confessed.”

Seongwoo can’t argue with that. Daniel’s fans never truly courted him or flirted with him. Maybe that what makes it impossible to turn them down – turn down someone who hasn’t made a move.

“Besides,” Daniel continues, a small smile playing on his lips. “I don’t think anyone of them would be able to write this kind of letter because none of them feels the way you fee—” Daniel quickly looks at Seongwoo, before he corrects himself, his eyes fixed on the fence again “—felt.”

Seongwoo’s blood rushes to his face. Daniel seems to be entirely somewhere else and Seongwoo swallows. “Damn. My letter gave you the ego boost you certainly didn’t need, you twat.”

It takes a second too long for Daniel to chuckle, but when Seongwoo looks at him again, Daniel’s already smiling. He reaches out for the article paper. “Well… you _are_ my boyfriend now.”

Seongwoo smiles a little. He doesn’t know why, but the atmosphere is suddenly heavier, and he wishes he could make a good pun or that the birds on the fence would do something interesting for them to comment. “Doesn’t make you any less of a brat.”

Daniel grins, but Seongwoo sees there’s something bothering him, because it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Before Seongwoo can ask though, Daniel replies, lightly as ever. “You’re one to talk.”

***

**self**

<sending dog_plays_with_squirrel.mp4>

here it cuddles with a squirrel

**kang daniel**

seems more like chicken fight than playing tho

**self**

all is fair in love and war dear daniel

**kang daniel**

cant argue with that

btw

fourteen

**self**

pretty sure it’s like 65

but okay

**kang daniel**

questions on the latest spider man isn’t a 20Q thing

and debating about the fact you r in your skeleton also

**self**

that one still bugs me

skeleton is not inside u

bc you are your brain so /you/ r in ur skeleton

**kang daniel**

gonna have nightmares abt it:((

but

14

favourite season?

**self**

autumn

**kang daniel**

why

**self**

bc everything’s dying

**kang daniel**

sad thing is that i actually believe that’s the reason

think abt why it’s sad

**self**

<3

14

you?

**kang daniel**

winter

bc snow and christmas

also my bday

**self**

thought it be summer

**kang daniel**

why?

**self**

bc u love ur abs so much

**kang daniel**

more like you love them no?

babe

**self**

</3

fu

***

Next Saturday afternoon, Seongwoo gets a call.

Which is weird for two reasons.

The first reason being that Seongwoo doesn’t just _get_ calls on Saturdays – texts yeah, but the only people who could be possibly calling are his dad and Jisung, if he and Seongwoo are not for some reason during the weekend together, like today.

But it’s not Jisung – which leads him to the reason number two why this whole thing is weird.

It’s quite a simple one. The call is from Daniel.

_Daniel _is calling him on a _Saturday_.

“Hello?”

“Hello…?”

“Seongwoo-hyung?”

Seongwoo sits up in his bed, where he was cautiously balancing the notebook on his stomach while he was trying to reach for a glass of water on the bedside table. “Um. Yeah. Daniel? Why are you calling?”

There’s a two-second long silence, before Daniel replies. “I was…uh. I was wondering if you’re free today?”

Seongwoo feels his eyebrows travel somewhere up to his hairline. “What?”

“I…” Daniel’s voice is a little hesitant. “Well. Are you free? I mean… if you were, we could hang out.”

_What_?

“Why?”

Daniel laughs a little. “That isn’t a nice thing to say, hyung.”

“It’s the only one that makes sense to say right now,” Seongwoo counters. “So. Why?”

“I think we should go over our game plan,” Daniel finally says. “With you being a senior and me being in different class and with all the football practices we don’t have that much time at school to hang out… to finish the twenty questions thing.”

Seongwoo can’t believe his ears. Daniel wants to sacrifice his Saturday afternoon just to perfect their fake-dating thing? Like, wow. The dedication is quite admirable, Seongwoo will give him that.

“I understand if you’d rather not, of course,” Daniel adds quickly and Seongwoo realizes he’s been silent for too long. “I just, I don’t think I’m as good at acting as you are, so I would need the extra help… and I thought it’d be better for me in person, you know, than over the phone, because there’s a lot of to—”

“No, it’s fine,” Seongwoo interrupts him. He turns off his notebook and sets it on the other side of the bed. He gets up and starts searching for something to wear. “I’m free.”

“Oh,” Daniel’s deep voice echoes from the other side and Seongwoo can almost _hear_ him smile. “Great. I’ll come pick you up? How about at two?”

“Sure,” Seongwoo says.

“Okay. See you.”

“See you.”

Seongwoo hangs up.

Okay, it’s a date.

A _work_ date. He shakes his head. Fake boyfriend and all.

Seongwoo puts on some jeans and a grey sweatshirt with a print of a teddy bear Jisung gave him last Christmas and then he looks for some socks. He contemplates styling his hair, but he doesn’t want to look like someone who’s trying too hard. And certainly not like someone trying too hard for Kang Daniel, mind you.

At two as promised, Daniel rings his phone and Seongwoo grabs his bag and heads down the stairs. Daniel parked right by the entrance, as if he didn’t want Seongwoo to walk the extra meters, which is kind of sweet of him.

When Daniel sees him, his face lights up and Seongwoo automatically raises his hand to wave at him, but his mind is suddenly blank. Daniel’s wearing a simple pink cardigan over a striped shirt and tattered jeans, his blond hair a soft mess but Seongwoo’s mind goes _blank_.

“Hi,” Daniel says, fiddling with the hem of the cardigan. “Glad you had the time.”

“Uh-huh,” Seongwoo mumbles. Daniel looks great. No, not great. Freaking _nice_.

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa. Seongwoo mentally slaps himself – it’s nothing out of ordinary. This is just another day for Kang Daniel. It’s normal. Of course, it is. Seongwoo forcefully blinks. It just… it’s just caught him off guard – because until now he’s seen the other Daniels: Daniel at school, Daniel the jock, Daniel the cool guy, Daniel the sweet, Daniel the annoying shit. But this is a whole different thing. Daniel… the cutely shy. _Soft_.

“Uh,” Seongwoo laughs. “I mean. Hi. And sure, you were right, we should finish the 20Q thing.”

Daniel smiles at him and Seongwoo gulps.

“I like your sweatshirt,” Daniel suddenly says.

Seongwoo feels himself flush. He automatically looks down at the bear, who just innocently stares back up at him. “Uh. Thanks.”

Daniel blinks a few times, his eyes traveling from the bear to Seongwoo’s shoes and then all the way up to his face, before he speaks again, his voice a little rushed. “Right. Um. Okay.” He coughs and turns away, throwing Seongwoo his helmet. “Your helmet. I did a little upgrade to it.”

Seongwoo frowns, when Daniel’s face breaks into a wide grin. Seongwoo turns the helmet around just to find a sticker ‘_baby driver on board_’.

“Haha. Very funny.”

“I know,” Daniel says cheerily. “Hop on.”

“Sixteen,” Daniel says.

“I am sure you’ve asked more than sixteen.” Seongwoo brings the cappuccino to his lips. “Twenty questions are named _Twenty questions_ for a reason.”

“I don’t count the ones when we were fighting about the superpowers thing,” Daniel argues. “Although I was obviously right.”

“Nothing can beat shapeshifting, Kang,” Seongwoo says flatly. “And certainly not _snow bending_.”

“Let’s just not,” Daniel sighs. “Not again.”

“I’m all for truce.”

They sit in the cat café; the same café Daniel took him to and offered the fake-dating deal. Seongwoo was reluctant at first – the café didn’t hold any memories that did not shame his poor dignity, but in the end, Daniel persuaded him. Daniel told him the ladies working there were asking for his ‘handsome friend’ and who’s Seongwoo to deny the nice old ladies’ wishes to see his ethereal face?

They’ve been sitting here for hours now – every question making them stray to various different and stupid topics, but Seongwoo can’t help but to be strayed. It’s just impossible to keep it professional when everything Daniel utters, just rouses an automatic reply from Seongwoo, be it just a simple comment or an argument. Daniel’s no better and they end up actually talking – and Seongwoo feels kind of surprised – surprised the same way he was back on the roof, when Daniel suggested the stupid 20 questions game. Surprised that they really have things in common. They argue a lot of course, half the time they joke, but minutes flow strangely quickly – Seongwoo’s finished his caramel latte and he’s currently on his second glass of strawberry milkshake. Daniel’s own mug of cappuccino had lied forgotten for quite a while too, because they were animatedly discussing whatever shit. Upon realizing it had gone cold, Daniel downed it and proceeded to drink two more drinks. And now they’re here. Question sixteen.

“Sixteen,” Daniel says again and Seongwoo sighs. “Any siblings?”

“None. Although Minhyun is practically my long-lost annoying brother. Does that count?”

“It could. Okay, your turn.”

“Siblings?”

“One,” Daniel replies, reaching out for a cookie. “Little brother.”

“Name?”

“Does that count as a Seventeen?”

“No,” Seongwoo says. “It’s the natural follow up. Extension to the previous one.”

“Alright.” Daniel replies and Seongwoo can see the exact second his voice softens. It’s a weird concept of getting used to this side of Daniel – seeing more often soft smiles, rather than the toothy grins he’s flashing at school. “His name is Guanlin,” Daniel continues and smiles fondly. “He’s in eighth grade and way cooler than me.”

Seongwoo snort-laughs. “I don’t find that hard to accept.”

“Shut up,” Daniel chuckles. He then starts re-telling some of his favourite stories with his little brother – the time they went on a road trip all the way to Ilsan just to get the “best ramyeon ever”; their night runs to have a swim in the pool of their neighbours; the time he had to sneak Guanlin’s bag during his brother’s biology class through a classroom window.

“Guanlin’s been really focusing on playing drums now though,” Daniel says and grimaces at his cup. “It’s tearing my ears and I always tell him to keep—”

Daniel continues complaining but Seongwoo suddenly feels a little bit thrown off. He looks at Daniel and then must focus his eyes on his own glass, before looking at Daniel again.

He _is_ thrown off.

Blindsided, because it’s as if some kind of set rule suddenly… shifted.

Daniel sits in front of him and animatedly rambles on about his brother and Seongwoo can’t really pinpoint the exact word that causes his brain to pause. Because all this talk makes Seongwoo fully realize that Daniel is not _just_ Kang Daniel, Troy Bolton of their high. No – Kang Daniel must also be someone’s son who goes for mail and makes breakfast, and he is someone’s whipped big brother and he argues with his sibling because of his too loud drums, he is someone who leaves stupid notes on the fridge, but also helps this Guanlin with algebra and is annoyed when his little brother puts dirty socks on his desk. Someone, who likes winter because of his birthday and Christmas and snow, someone who loves quoting Sponge Bob on daily basis and too often, someone who _genuinely_ believes that snow-bending is a cool superpower.

It’s weird – as if Seongwoo just found out that his teachers in fact enjoy the same tv shows like he does or that they were hardcore fans of the music band he listens to. The image Seongwoo has so unconsciously built, changes. Or rather – it comes in clearer focus; without Seongwoo even knowing that it’s been out of it in the first place.

“Seventeen,” Daniel suddenly says and Seongwoo snaps back into the presence, his mind a little bit more confused than it usually is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well  
(hope you noticed the light reference comeback) (i loved that era) (who noticed the secret joke of the mp4 file) (and who noticed --)
> 
> this chapter was hardest to write as it was more fragmental than usual and it takes more story planning that the ones that are like one-plotline. but i hope it was a good read!! (or was it more difficult to read bc of the more divided chapter?) 
> 
> let me know in the comments your opinion, or whatever youre feeling or what you expect will happen or what you WANT to happen!
> 
> find me on twt @dorkitos <3 i think ill set up a curious cat, bc all cool people have it (please comment the fic, not my attempts to be cool)
> 
> thank you again for reading!! see you next chapter~


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pet names go well with the milk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quarantine is getting tough for me, bc teachers think that i have nothing else better to do than wait for their emails and do five-year worth pile of schoolwork TT TT
> 
> thank you so much for all the kudos and those who took time to write me a comment or talked to me on twitter!!! you're the best and it makes me so glad i'm not posting this for nothing<33
> 
> this chapter is for you all people to cheer up!! imagine the nice spring breeze and have something good to munch on, hope you'll enjoy this chapter~

Seongwoo finds himself thinking about how it actually came down to this, this whole fake dating business.

Dating Daniel feels almost like a second nature now and hanging out with Sungwoon and Minhyun, “double dating” (as it was referred to in the group chat he had with Minhyun and Sungwoon to Seongwoo’s absolute disgust), too.

This Daniel thingie was created so Seongwoo could get over his feelings for Sungwoon; but to be honest Seongwoo can’t really tell if it worked for one simple reason.

He just doesn’t have the _time_ to properly think about it.

Because the weeks that follow, Seongwoo is so busy with Daniel that watching Sungwoon from afar just doesn’t fit in his schedule. It’s been over a month of their fake dating plan, but Seongwoo quickly realized that being Daniel’s boyfriend appears to be a full-time job, as the latter was constantly in the centre of attention of his devoted fans. They end up spending a crap load of time together, Daniel often texting him out of nowhere to hang out, so he could escape some unwanted loving and then they would sneak off to the roof, just doing nothing and talking.

Since that first after-club tteokbokki dinner, it has kind of become their habit to grab dinner on Fridays once the club meeting finishes; saying they should be seen leaving ensemble and maintain the couple-image. Although there is not a lot of people to show the said image to, with the club activities finishing pretty late, Seongwoo goes with it nonetheless. He kind of enjoys their Friday dinners, running from a stall to stall, eating whatever and cracking jokes in between.

The Saturdays were spent at the cat café (in order to perfect their knowledge about each other so they wouldn’t be caught on something trivial), but they sometimes went to a skate park too. It was right across the street from the cat café and Daniel occasionally danced there with some friends, showing (off) his skills. Seongwoo finally found out where he got the callouses on his hands: Daniel did bboying during his free time and Seongwoo had to admit, he was _good_.

While Daniel said his fans were giving him much more deserved space, Seongwoo can still see the way they lowkey follow him around when Seongwoo’s not with him, coming often to the skate park to see Daniel perform too. Minhyun laughed at that and told Seongwoo to buy a leash or at least a tracker so he would know where Daniel is and could rescue him if necessary. Seongwoo told him to kindly fuck off.

“What?” Minhyun cackles and throws an arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders. “It’s true. Kang Daniel is a boy you need to keep in constant check, or someone will jump him. He’s a damn candy.”

“Please. Stop.”

It’s lunch time and he and Minhyun are on their way to the cafeteria to meet up with Sungwoon, Daniel and his friends.

Lunch time became a weird time of the day – as a part of their deal, Daniel stayed true to his word and sits with Seongwoo in the cafeteria. But Seongwoo really hasn’t thought it through – the cafeteria was one of those commune places where _everyone_ could just freely stare at them and it took Seongwoo some time to get used to the heat visions he received while inhaling his rice. Another thing Seongwoo should have expected, but didn’t quite realize would happen, was Daniel’s friends moving to Seongwoo’s table too – Jihoon and Jaehwan showed up with Daniel with their trays, buzzing with excitement to sit with ‘_the cool seniors’_. Daniel only offered an apologetic look, when Jaehwan hit third octave right beside Seongwoo’s ear, nearly giving him a concussion.

However, despite Daniel’s friends being sometimes too hyperactive, and despite the glares he gets from Daniel’s fandom, Seongwoo finds himself enjoying the lunches – it’s lively and it’s fun and it’s a complete mess. Daniel’s friends get on with Seongwoo’s surprisingly well, clicking on various levels, making jokes and talking loudly enough to even drown the whispers that seem to now follow Seongwoo everywhere he goes.

“Hey, you came?” Daniel asks, his mouth stretching into a soft smile upon seeing him. He, Jihoon and Jaehwan are already seated at the table, eating.

“Yeah. Hi,” Seongwoo says and pecks him on the cheek before he can lose the courage in front those people drilling holes in his head with their stares. He was trying to be bolder with all the PDA here in the cafeteria, because Minhyun was right about one thing. With Kang Daniel as his boyfriend, he needs to be on alert and show people that he’s taken.

And strangely, the more time he had to spend with Daniel fake-dating him, the _more_ he was used to touching him – it became normal for Seongwoo to have Daniel’s arm around him, holding his hand or even now a little kiss on the forehead or cheek here in public.

Although the pet names are still a new concept for Seongwoo – and not necessarily a pleasant one, because Daniel is sure one bastard with some imagination.

Daniel’s smile widens, when Seongwoo pulls away after the peck. “Hi, sugarpuss.”

_Sugarpuss_? Seongwoo glares at him, forcing on a smile. Daniel (the cheeky little shit) only smiles sweetly back and Seongwoo keeps his hands by his sides so he wouldn’t accidently knock out his fake ass boyfriend.

“I’m here too, just saying,” Minhyun chirps and waves. Daniel laughs. “Sorry, hyung. Didn’t see you.”

“Of course.” Minhyun looks around. “Sungwoon?”

“Oh, he just went to a vending machine,” Jihoon says and stuffs his mouth with meat.

Seongwoo settles next to Daniel, while Minhyun sits opposite him, laughing at something Jaehwan says. Seongwoo takes this opportunity and leans over to Daniel, stealing a little bit meat from his tray, and asks so only he could hear him. “So…how is your fan clu—I mean how are your _other_ _friends_, doing?”

Daniel snakes his arms around Seongwoo’s waist, stroking little circles into his side, and smiles. “Good. There was less chocolate in my locker.”

“That is an improvement. Although kind of a sad one,” Seongwoo sighs. “I liked eating them.”

“Hypocrite,” Daniel snorts. “But coach would be happy. Less fat for me.”

Sungwoon suddenly shows up, holding two boxes of chocolate milk. “Hey.” He first pecks Minhyun, giving him a box, before he greets the others. He places the other box of milk in front of Seongwoo. “Here’s yours.”

“Whoa, thanks, Woon-ah,” Seongwoo replies and tries not to feel too pleased that Sungwoon still remembers he likes the chocolate ones. Sungwoon looks really nice today – his hair is swept from his forehead and he’s wearing a simple blue sweater over his white shirt. Fuck this. Seongwoo tears his eyes from Sungwoon’s face.

“You wanted a chocolate milk?” Daniel asks and Seongwoo turns to him, trying to focus on what he’s saying. “You should’ve said, I would get it for you.”

Wow. Daniel is sure getting better and better at this acting gig – the caring boyfriend pose almost had Seongwoo fooled that they’re actually dating. To his surprise, Daniel’s not even looking at him – his eyes are skipping between Sungwoon and the chocolate milk box on the table.

Sungwoon notices too and chuckles. “It’s okay, I was getting it for Minhyun so I took one for Seongwoo as well. He is a real sucker when it comes to chocolate. He has a sweet tooth like a five-year-old.”

Daniel laughs a little too loud and still stares at the chocolate milk, as if it somehow offended him, before looking at Sungwoon. “…Seen it first-hand.”

“Yeah,” Sungwoon nods, looking a bit puzzled, when he sits down next to Minhyun. “Um. Of course you have.”

“Yah, what do you mean,” Seongwoo mumbles and lightly punches Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel immediately grins and shrugs. “Can’t lie to you, cupcake.” He leans over and presses a light kiss to Seongwoo’s temple when he notices he’s pouting. “God. You’re so cute,” he laughs under his breath.

_Cupcake_. CUPCAKE. Seongwoo puts his hand on Daniel’s thigh, squeezing it with all he has. Daniel yelps out in pain and Seongwoo turns to him, the image of sweet innocence. “Oh, _pookie_, so sorry about that.”

Daniel smiles back, his eyebrow twitching. “Nothing happened, _baby boo_.”

“Ugh. You two. Get the fuck out,” Jaehwan whines. “I’m _eating_ here.”

Seongwoo meets Daniel’s eye and it’s like a switch – both immediately bursting out laughing, while Jaehwan throws grains of rice at them. Seongwoo laughs till he thinks he’s crying, leaning against Daniel’s shoulder because he doesn’t trust himself to sit upright, while Daniel is cackling loudly next to him with his head thrown back and Seongwoo—

And Seongwoo feels like he’s catching the mood of the entire school, when he thinks that he sure loves watching Kang Daniel laugh.

Seongwoo meant it when he agreed to be an exemplary boyfriend to Kang Daniel for his fan club to see.

A week later, after all their Friday classes finish, Seongwoo leaves the classroom with Minhyun in tow – Minhyun wanted to buy some apple juice from the cafeteria, before going to cram school and dragged Seongwoo along.

“Can’t you go alone?” Seongwoo whines the whole way. “I have my club duties to attend to—”

“You’re doing absolutely nothing during the meetings,” Minhyun says flatly. “They’ll survive ten minutes without your oh-so-helpful comments. Besides, you owe me money, so I’ll use your card.”

“Noooooo,” Seongwoo wails, but Minhyun’s merciless.

They arrive at the cafeteria and immediately notice the crowd in front of the milk fridge. They make too much noise, talking in high voices and rushed words, and Seongwoo scrunches his forehead in annoyance. Fucking underclassmen.

“Oh, Ong, it’s –” Minhyun points to the people and Seongwoo internally sighs. Because in the centre of all this mess stands Seongwoo’s precious fake-other-half, Kang Daniel.

Of course.

“What the fuck he’s doing here. Eunji-noona will kill us both at this point,” Seongwoo moans. “I’m late to the club because of you, doofus, what’s his excuse.”

“I think his fans,” Minhyun says and goes over to the juice fridge. “You should go help him escape.” Minhyun gets his juice and waves him goodbye, grinning when he notices Seongwoo’s helpless face. “See you!”

Seongwoo thinks he should maybe invest in buying a stick to fend Daniel from his crazy fans; he tries to make through the crowd to the guy without getting an elbow to the eye. “Hey, hey, _excuse_ me—”

“Hyung!” Daniel’s face literally lights up like a Christmas tree, when he spots him. “I was just about to—”

“Babe!” Seongwoo squeals excitedly and throws himself into Daniel’s arms. Daniel automatically catches him, steadying him, and places his hands on Seongwoo’s hips. “We’re going to be late, what are you still doing here?” Seongwoo whines lavishly and clasps his hands behind Daniel’s neck.

Daniel’s eyes are wide, but it doesn’t take long before he laughs and looks at him with playful glint and a fond smile. “Um. Sorry, hon. I wanted to buy you some snacks…”

Seongwoo looks at the people around them, who scowl back at him.

“What?” Seongwoo frowns. “Go. Don’t you see I’m having a moment with my, uh… pooh bear? Go, go.” The fan club soon disperses, giving Seongwoo sour looks, when he starts cooing at Daniel how sweet and considerate boyfriend he is.

Daniel still holds him, grinning. “Aren’t you little over-acting?”

“You looked like you enjoy it though?” Seongwoo scoffs, immediately dropping the act. “You like clingy boyfriends?”

“I like it when _you_ are clingy,” Daniel grins even wider. His eyes are crinkling in that cute way and Seongwoo scoffs again, while Daniel just laughs.

“Honey,” Seongwoo feigns outrage. “_Don’t_ do that again. I don’t like when you’re hanging out with those people. It makes me upset.” Seongwoo purses his lips and Daniel huffs a laugh, squishing Seongwoo’s cheeks together.

“Cute.”

“Hey, punk,” Seongwoo deadpans and swats his hands away. “I’m still your hyung.”

“I bought you a chocolate milk, hyung-nim,” Daniel only chuckles, releasing Seongwoo from his hug and taking Seongwoo’s hand in his. “Sungwoon-hyung didn’t buy you one today, did he?”

“Nah,” Seongwoo says and accepts it, delighted. “Thanks.”

“You don’t have to ask him anymore. I’ll buy it for you.”

“I never ask him,” Seongwoo snorts. “He just sometimes takes me one, when he goes to the buffet.”

“Then tell him he doesn’t need to,” Daniel grumbles, before shrugging quickly. “I mean, I got it covered.”

“Minhyun buys it for me too sometimes. But alright, whatever.” What’s up with that, suddenly. It’s just a milk, gee. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

When they round the corner, one hallway from the club room, Seongwoo turns to Daniel. “Why did you even join the paper?” They’re still holding hands, Daniel swinging them back and forth. The hallway’s empty so they don’t actually need to, but Seongwoo doesn’t say anything and neither does Daniel. Someone could show up. Better safe than sorry, right? “I mean, I didn’t expect… well you and Jihoon to join. Paper’s not really jocks’ thing.”

“Stop generalizing jocks, hyung,” Daniel laughs.

“Then why did you?”

“Well… Jihoon joined because Woojin told him it’s easy and he would get credits basically for nothing,” Daniel says.

Seongwoo can’t argue with those reasons because it’s kind of true. Not that he would ever let Eunji know _that_. “And what about you?”

Daniel scrunches his forehead, looking suddenly somehow embarrassed. “Coach told me I need extra credits and I… I chose the newspaper club, because…” He murmurs something and Seongwoo leans closer to catch the words. He laughs out loud, when Daniel’s ears turn red.

“What?” Seongwoo howls with laughter. “You joined to _hide_ from your fan club?”

“It’s not a fan club,” Daniel automatically replies. “Guys on the team told me the newspaper was extremely… unpopular? Had few members and no one really goes there… plus it was on Friday, when the football practice is earlier in the afternoon, so the club doesn’t collide with my training.” Daniel bites his lip. “No one else knows I’m a member besides Jihoon and Jaehwan.”

Seongwoo’s corners keep twirling upwards and Daniel purses his lips. “What?”

“Nothing,” Seongwoo grins. “It’s just kind of hilarious.”

“What is?”

“You,” Seongwoo says. “And everything you’re willing to do to hide from them.”

Daniel suddenly brings Seongwoo’s hand to his chest, a terrified expression on his face. “_Please_ don’t tell Eunji-noona.”

“Don’t worry,” Seongwoo laughs. “I wouldn’t even if I wanted to. She’d be devasted, because it means there won’t be any new members incoming, because you’re actually hiding the fact you go there. I can imagine she’s puzzled no one actually came since you’ve become a member – and I guess no one would believe her you joined, thinking it’s too _lame_ for Kang Daniel.”

“I actually enjoy it now though. I like writing about what I like. And I really like the members.”

“Then something good came out of it. That’s a plus.” Seongwoo smiles, tugging at Daniel’s hand. “We’re here.”

Daniel turns to him. “There’s… another positive point, of course.”

Seongwoo, with a hand on the doorknob, glances at him absent-mindedly. “What?”

Daniel grins a little, looking up at the ceiling. “We get to hang out.”

That catches him off guard – before Seongwoo can say something though, the doors slide open and reveal a very mad Jung Eunji.

“You’re late, love birds,” she smiles sweetly.

Daniel and Seongwoo exchange a look and they know they are in for a whole afternoon of cleaning.

Next week, Seongwoo goes to the library before his afternoon study class to catch up with all the homework he, um… postponed. Daniel having an hour of free time until his football practice, decided to come with – though Seongwoo knew it would be a bad idea (Seongwoo’s shit at focusing, and even more so when he’s with someone), he eventually let Daniel accompany him. On their way to the library they bumped into Minki and Seongwoo sighed when Minki told them about—

“A party, a party, a party! Minki’s having a party!” Daniel is jumping up and down on his chair and Seongwoo hits him with a book to stop him. “Ouch!”

“We’re in a library! Calm down, you fucking—” Seongwoo quickly looks around. “Um, calm down… sweetums.”

Daniel laughs quietly. “Sweetums?”

“You are the one who’s getting into the pet names way too seriously,” Seongwoo mumbles and organizes his books on the table. Daniel sits down next to him and puts his head on one of Seongwoo’s textbooks. He looks especially good today – his fluffy hair is falling into his eyes and he’s wearing a simple black cardigan over his white uniform shirt. He suddenly seems to be sleepy when he blinks up at Seongwoo from beneath his eyelashes. His long, _long_ eyelashes. Seongwoo flinches. He should get a grip.

“The pet names are the most fun part, don’t you think?” Daniel lazily grins at him. He takes Seongwoo’s hand and starts playing with his fingers. “We’re _dating_ now. It’s okay to use affectionate terms with each other.”

“I guess,” Seongwoo replies. “Hey, give me back my hand. I have to work.”

“Boohoo,” Daniel says, but lets him go. “You’re no fun.”

Seongwoo scoffs. What a dork.

It’s quiet for about three seconds, before Daniel sits up. “We’re going, right? To the party?”

Seongwoo is extremely lazy, but parties were part of the deal. And it’s Minki’s party. He would kill Seongwoo for sure if he didn’t show up. “Yeah. If you want.”

“Nice.”

“Minki’s planning way ahead,” Seongwoo mumbles. “Who knows when the party will be…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Daniel shrugs. “He’s really determined. If he said he’s planning one…”

“There will be one.”

“Exactly. Probably soon, though. He wouldn’t go around telling people if it weren’t.”

“I guess.”

“So prepare.”

“We should,” Seongwoo begins and highlights a paragraph in his book. “It’s a party where you can show off your boyfriend to all your—” Seongwoo stops himself from saying _lunatic fans_.  
“— show people that you’re, like… you know. Really serious about me.”

“You do have a point,” Daniel says and nods.

“Of course, I do. I’m so much wiser than you,” Seongwoo says in a voice of high importance and offers Daniel a shrug. Daniel scoffs and slaps his shoulder. Suddenly, his face turns a little bit guilty. “Hyung?”

“What?”

“You don’t think…” Daniel turns with his whole body to face him and Seongwoo cocks his head. It’s exactly this thing he remembers he liked about Daniel – the way he looks at people, as if he really wanted to know what they had to say, really valued their opinion. “You don’t think I’m being too harsh? With them?”

“What?” Seongwoo’s jaw almost falls out of its hinges because _what the actual fuck_. “_You_? Harsh?”

“I mean…” Daniel fidgets with the hem of his sleeve. “They just – they just like me and I’m shoving my relationship into their faces… isn’t that—”

Seongwoo lightly grabs him by the shoulder. “Don’t say it.”

Daniel blinks. “What?”

Seongwoo remembers the sophomores on the bleachers, how hurt and angry they were when they asked Seongwoo if Daniel was really dating him.

_How could he even date someone… he can’t… it’s so mean of him, when all of us were…_

“Don’t say that it’s _mean_ of you.” Seongwoo says. He slowly lets Daniel’s shoulder go, gripping instead his highlighter a little bit more forcefully. “Just don’t. You…” Seongwoo sighs. “In this – just be selfish for a moment, Daniel. Be a human and be selfish for _once_.”

Daniel’s eyes are wide and Seongwoo shakes his head. “I mean it… don’t look at that this way.” Seongwoo thinks back to the letter he wrote to Daniel. “It’s okay to think of yourself first, every once in a while.”

Daniel’s staring at him and Seongwoo somehow sees the hint of relief behind it – and it makes Seongwoo strangely relieved too.

Seongwoo shakes his head again and smiles at him, returning to his textbook, while Daniel puts his head back on the books – he closes his eyes, seemingly listening to the rustling of leaves coming in through the open window.

“I… thanks. I’m glad I asked you…” Daniel suddenly mumbles and Seongwoo looks over at him. Daniel is already half-asleep, with his cheek pressed up against the book. Seongwoo stares at him for a while, before he sighs and thinks again, what a dork. This time though, he smiles too.

When Seongwoo finishes about 12 % of his homework, it’s about time for Daniel to go to his football practice. Seongwoo puts all his books into his shoulder bag and then he leans over to Daniel, poking him. “Hey. _Hey_. Get up, you have to go.”

Daniel just continues sleeping, apparently dead to the world. Alright. Seongwoo can do this but shouting at Daniel in a library doesn’t sound like the brightest idea, so that’s going to be hard. “Daniel,” he whisper-yells a millimetre from Daniel’s ear. “Daniel!”

After like a thousand of “_Daniel!_”s later Daniel is nowhere close to being… well, not asleep. How can he still be sleeping? Seongwoo, frustrated, ruffles his own hair and starts patting Daniel’s cheek. “Daniel!”

_His skin is soft._ For a split of a second, Seongwoo absent-mindedly lets his palm rest against it. It’s so much softer than he would’ve thought. A weird feeling comes to him and he immediately yanks his hand away.

“Daniel!” He shakes him until the table rattles and Seongwoo earns himself like thirty angry looks his way, but Daniel finally stirs and slowly blinks up at him. “Hyung?” he asks, his voice hoarse and confused. “What…”

“It’s time to go, you have practice,” Seongwoo whispers. Daniel straightens up and he looks so lost that Seongwoo can’t help but laugh a little under his breath. “C’mon, I’ll buy you something to wake you up.”

Daniel slowly nods, his eyes still half-closed with sleep. Seongwoo grins and lightly takes Daniel’s hand in his, pulling him up. “Up, up, we go.”

Daniel obediently stands up and lets Seongwoo guide him through the bookcases and tables where all their schoolmates look relieved to see them go. Seongwoo sharply tucks at his hand on their way out because Daniel misses the exit door and almost walks into a wall. “Hey, how are you even going to play this way?”

Daniel sighs and squeezes Seongwoo’s hand. “I don’t want to go.”

Seongwoo shakes his head. “You have to. Think of your scary coach.”

“Missing one practice won’t make me a flop player,” Daniel mumbles. “Let’s go somewhere, hyung. I’m sure you don’t want to go to your afternoon class either.”

Daniel manages to hit Seongwoo’s two weakest spots – his laziness and knack for rule-breaking. “Ugh, you’re unbelievable.”

Daniel smiles lazily. “I take it as a yes.” He lightly pulls at Seongwoo’s hand in the direction of the staircase leading up to the roof. “Let’s go up.”

Seongwoo first buys them two bottles of mango juice and then follows Daniel up to the roof, laughing at the way all Daniel’s movements seem a bit more sluggish than normally from the nap he took in the library. Daniel laughs with him until they finally reach the top. Seongwoo opens the door and they enter the roof, settling on their usual spot on the ground, leaning their backs against a wall. The breeze is refreshing, and it runs through Seongwoo’s hair, ruffling it in the process, while sunshine warmly dances on their exposed skin. Daniel is already sipping his juice, making slurping noises until Seongwoo chuckles and tells him to stop.

“It’s nice here, really,” Daniel breathes out. “I could stay here forever.”

“Yeah… it’s one of my favourite spots in the town actually,” Seongwoo replies, setting the bottle on the ground and stretching out his legs. “I come here whenever I want to think…”

“Then it can’t be that often, right?” Daniel grins and laughs and Seongwoo smacks his arm.

“You’re such an ass.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Daniel grins and cocks his head to the side. “It’s just so easy to tease you, hyung. It’s funny.”

“I’m glad I’m such a good source of amusement,” Seongwoo theatrically sighs and tilts his head back, looking up at the cloudless sky.

“It’s great though…” Daniel says and Seongwoo can almost hear him smile. “You always let people poke fun at you just to make them comfortable or to ease up the atmosphere… it’s really kind of you.”

Seongwoo startles at that. “What?”

_Kind_? His cheeks feel warmer and he turns his head to say something, but Daniel continues. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to let you know.” Daniel offers him a goofy smile and then he yawns. Before Seongwoo can even notice him moving, Daniel puts his head into Seongwoo’s lap. “Let me sleep for a while, sweetums.”

Daniel’s head is not heavy, but Seongwoo somehow feels like someone dropped a truck on him. He gulps and glances at him – Daniel’s eyes are already closed and his hair is funnily falling sideways revealing a bit of his forehead. Seongwoo’s hand itches but (thank God) stops the urge to move the rest of Daniel’s hair from his forehead. Looking at him like this, Daniel sure is the school’s heartthrob for a reason – handsome and cute, soft and strong at the same time, melting people from inside out just by his looks and a smile; it’s only a physical reaction to a universal fact, if Seongwoo’s heart does a little flip. “I’m going to shake you off, if you don’t sit up.”

Daniel smiles, his eyes still closed. “No, you won’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

Daniel laughs and sits up abruptly. “Okay, okay.”

Seongwoo scoffs. “My lap isn’t just for anyone.”

Daniel purses his lips. “I’m your boyfriend.”

“A fake one.”

“Then how about I pay you in—” Daniel shoves his hand into his bag, shuffling for a while, before he takes out something with a victorious yelp. “—food?”

“Well, why didn’t you say so _sooner_?” Seongwoo grins brightly, patting his lap and reaching out for the choco pie. “Here, Daniel, sweetie.”

Daniel cackles and returns to his spot in Seongwoo’s lap. Sengwoo happily munches on the treat when Daniel suddenly says. “I know you would eventually let me lie down.”

“Aaaaand what makes you think that?”

Daniel is silent for a while, before he answers. “Because I’m just darn adorable?”

Seongwoo can’t help but laugh at that. “You’re so shameless.”

Daniel smiles. He opens his eyes and looks up at him and something in Seongwoo makes this little squeeze. “You’re one to talk.”

They sit there for a long while. They talk, about nonsense mostly, absorbing the sunlight and the warmth. It feels natural – talking to Daniel is just _easy_, and Seongwoo thinks it’s not like getting used to Daniel touching him. Because that took time, but this took only a few jokes and an opportunity. Even if the opportunity was their deal of fake-dating.

“It’s nice,” Daniel sighs all of a sudden.

“Yeah. The breeze is really nice.”

“No,” Daniel mumbles, covering his face with a hand so Seongwoo can’t really see his expression. “I meant… just talking to you. It’s nice.”

“Oh,” Seongwoo swallows and looks at anything but the guy resting in his lap. He feels weird and it feels suddenly complicated and it’s something he’s not used to feeling, because being with Daniel has been nothing but simple so far. “You’re… not so bad either,” Seongwoo manages to snort-laugh eventually, while Daniel only chuckles in response.

Seongwoo looks up at the sky. It’s warm and the breeze is still ruffling their hair and Seongwoo absent-mindedly hopes that once this fake-dating is over, he and Daniel could stay friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hohohhOOo
> 
> \- sorry sungwoon, i just wanted to make daniel slightly jealous lol (guys did you notice or it was too subtle? idk)  
\- chocolate milk is great, but it tastes almost the same like hot cocoa, sooo why differ  
\- i literally googled 'couple nicknames' and went by alphabetical order and the level of disgust it roused in me
> 
> next update is going to be most fun to write, bc dont worry, we're getting on with the plotline... muwahahaha  
must warn you though - minki's party is going to be later :D (bUT, you'll see guanlin!!! i've managed to add him to the story and i'm v proud of myself)
> 
> with these last updates i wanted to express the amazing thing that is spring time and what it's like to meet and befriend someone new and just the whole thing of getting to know them, growing comfortable with them and /like/ them for the person they are - i like the idea that to /be/ in love, you must be friends too, whether it comes first or later
> 
> if you liked the update, please leave kudos and of course, i'll be suuuuper duper happy for any feedabck!<3333
> 
> anyways you can find me on twitter @dorkito, for now stay safe and healthy, see you next time!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> king kang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooooooooooo  
yk, how it goes - life gets in the way and you need to set your priorities straight - too bad the uni didn't view finishing up this fic asap like a top A-mission ://
> 
> but that's all in the past and the story is now officialy back from hiatus!!  
updates will be added more regularly as i have this pretty much already written out; only need the final editing or some kind of plan or schedule of updating and also a will lol (we love organization!)
> 
> if you were waiting for this chapter, i /strongly/ recommend to re-read the fic or at least the previous chapter, yk just to get in the mood of this fic, get on the wave of it again and remind yourselves what actually is happening - i tend to refer to things mentioned in already posted chapters so it might make you feel less disoriented (the hiatus was kinda long:/...)
> 
> thank you for all the lovely people who patiently waited and cheered me on!! this is for you<33 also, welcome new readers, hope you ready for the ride! this chapter was really fun to write (and surprise! linlin DOES make an appearance!)

Daehwi looks over Seongwoo’s shoulder and begins carefully. “Well… it’s not like, um, horrible.” Seongwoo glares at him and Daehwi shrugs. “I said it isn’t!”

“Come on,” Jinyoung says lightly. “Daniel-hyung won’t dump you for an ugly poster.”

“I mean, at least you tried,” Daehwi adds and pats his back.

Seongwoo turns to them, pointing an accusing finger. “Just go, you good-for-nothing brats. You were supposed to _help_ me…”

Seongwoo thinks that this isn’t part of his and Daniel’s fake-dating deal.

No. No, no, no – he’s _sure_ this isn’t part of their fake-dating deal.

_This_ as in making a cheer poster for Daniel’s football shenanigans.

_“Wouldn’t it be more convincing?”_ Daniel asked him with that annoying eye-smile of his when they were talking about the upcoming match against K-high. _“Just imagine…my boyfriend… taking his time to make a poster… I mean we’re going to play against the school’s biggest rivals…”_

Damn Kang Daniel.

Seongwoo didn’t want to, honestly. He had better things to do than making fake cheer posters for fake boyfriends. Hell, he didn’t even know how to write properly, let alone draw.

Hence Daehwi’s and Jinyoung’s presence – Seongwoo asked for their help and now here he is. Making a poster at Daehwi’s house and taking blows at his creative skills left and right.

“Have you thought about something else to write?” Jinyoung asks and throws a potato chip into his mouth. He misses, and it lands on the blue carpet of the Lee’s living room. “Maybe a good catchy slogan would draw attention from…” he gesticulates to Seongwoo’s questionable drawing of a soccer ball under the shaky _Go, Daniel!_ “You know… from that.”

Seongwoo sighs. “Really, you two—”

Then an idea strikes him.

An _idea_.

“—Oh.”

He feels his corners rise. Because yes, of course – Jinyoung is totally right. “Jinyoungie, you really are a genius.”

“Um—what?” Jinyoung exchanges a glance with Daehwi, before he asks carefully. “Why?”

Seongwoo doesn’t need to awe people with his Picasso smudges. No – because a _slogan_ is what makes a good poster. “You’re right. I just need a good slogan.”

The day of the match against K-high, the whole school buzzes with excitement. K-high has been one of the rivalling schools of their high school in almost every field – be it math, art, music, literature, language, or sport competitions. So, Seongwoo isn’t surprised that almost every one of his schoolmates showed up to cheer on the school football team, because football was a sensation of its own, but a long-awaited match against their nemesis? Tickets couldn’t have sold any quicker.

The bleachers are packed, people with painted faces and whistles keep hollering all over each other and Seongwoo sees that a lot of people from outside came too – mostly parents or kids from other schools.

Daniel sits alone on a bench, hidden from the outsider’s eye; his teammates are probably already on the field. He is pulling up his ugly knee socks, when Seongwoo comes down from the bleachers.

“Oh, hyung! You’re here,” Daniel gives him a bright smile, jumping up. “I hoped you would come see me before the game.”

“Of course,” Seongwoo says and tries not to notice how good Daniel looks. He has his hair tamed by a sports headband, and his soccer uniform in standard school colours (blue and white) is nothing to bawl over, but Kang Daniel is nonetheless the best-looking thing on the pitch. “Have to give you the sweet pep talk full of love.”

“Really?” Daniel chuckles and although there’s nobody around, he brings his arms (probably out of habit) around Seongwoo’s waist, pulling him closer, making Seongwoo's breath hitch in his throat at the proximity. “Then I’m listening.”

Seongwoo smiles a little, not really knowing what to do with his hands; pushing Daniel away should be a reflex, but it’s not. Daniel’s grin is wide before he notices Seongwoo’s awkward hands, and the smile falls off his face almost immediately - as if he just realized that his hands are hugging Seongwoo’s waist. He quickly backs off, seeing that there is clearly no one to be acting for.“Um… Oh. Um. Sorry,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“S’okay,” Seongwoo mumbles, flushed.

Daniel watches him for a little moment before he stammers out. “Hyung, do you think we can… talk? After… after the game?”

“Talk?” Seongwoo gulps and he doesn’t know why he’s nervous suddenly. Daniel is shuffling with his hands also, but Seongwoo guesses it’s probably the nerves from the upcoming match. “About?”

“I…” Daniel is looking like someone undergoing an unnecessary surgery. “Um. Not now. Tell you later, okay? But we’ll talk, right, later?”

“Yeah, sure…” Seongwoo shakes his head. They look at each other for a few seconds, before Seongwoo breaks the staring contest, shaking his head. “Oh! Wait, I’m here for a reason actually.” Seongwoo, grateful for the valid excuse, grabs the poster from his bag. “I mean, you’ve basically ordered this, so don’t damage it.”

“What is it? The poster?” 

“Yeah,” Seongwoo says and can’t help but let the pride seep into his voice. “I made it myself.”

“Woah,” Daniel awes, jumping up and down impatiently. “Show me, show me, show me.”

“Here.” Seongwoo unrolls it with a flare and grins. “Ta-dah!”

He bites his lip, waiting for Daniel’s reaction as the latter squints at the poster. Daniel stares at it one – two – three seconds…

… before he bursts out laughing.

“Hyung— you—!”

“You like it?” Seongwoo grins in relief, while Daniel keeps cackling like a mad man. “Daehwi and Jinyoungie helped me out a bit—”

“It’s _amazing_,” Daniel wheezes, while he takes a step forward to get a closer look. “God, I love it.”

The poster is a masterpiece, for sure – Seongwoo printed out a big picture of King Kong and replaced the giant gorilla’s head with Daniel’s own headshot, writing _King Kang_ right above it in the hottest pink he could find in Daehwi’s pencil case.

“God.” Daniel looks at him with sparkles in his eyes and something jumps behind Seongwoo’s ribcage. Daniel’s still grinning from ear to ear when he playfully pokes Seongwoo’s stomach. “I didn’t expect anything less dramatic,” Daniel snorts, but it’s not malicious. “It’s so you, hyung.”

And Seongwoo believes him somehow – as if Daniel already understood what _so Seongwoo_ means. Better – understood it and didn’t mind it. Liked it, even.

Seongwoo feels suddenly warm and the noise from the football pitch is getting really loud – the bleachers are roaring, and the sound is absolutely deafening, the school marching band filling the air with sounds of trumpets, blaring horns and drums. The noise is getting in sync with Seongwoo’s beating heart and he doesn’t know what comes over him, because nobody’s there to see them, but it’s almost like an impulse, when he leans over and kisses Daniel on the cheek.

Daniel jerks back in surprise. “What—”

“Good luck!” Seongwoo yells over the noise and then he raises the poster, slowly retreating to the bleachers, his cheeks hot. “King Kang.”

When Seongwoo finally manages to find Minhyun and Sungwoon in the crowd, the game has already begun. “You could have at least texted me earlier that you changed seats,” Seongwoo shouts at them over the noise of the crowd when he plops down next to Sungwoon. “I’ve been looking for ages!”

“We did text you,” Sungwoon yells back simply and shakes his head.

Seongwoo checks his phone and sees the unread messages from Minhyun. “Whatever.” He can’t help but wonder whether couples always do that. Always talk in ‘we’.

“Did Daniel like the poster?” Minhyun asks, carefully balancing a bag of chips on his lap. “Not everyone appreciates your sense of humour.”

“He… really liked it,” Seongwoo replies, grinning. He then unrolls the poster and settles it against his legs so it would be visible from the field. “He laughed a lot.”

“Daniel has really low standards when it comes to laughing,” Sungwoon only retorts and Seongwoo punches his shoulder. “Ouch, Ong.”

“Do you have anything to eat?” Minhyun asks and nods at Seongwoo. “I don’t believe you’re dragging that big bag around just to carry your boyfriend’s poster and your own ego.”

“Um…” Seongwoo digs in and takes out two rice balls. “Here.”

Both Sungwoon and Minhyun’s mouths drop. “Rice balls?”

“I brought some for Daniel,” Seongwoo mumbles. “You can take these two, they’re the ugliest ones.”

“You’ve… actually...” Sungwoon still stares at him as if Seongwoo had a plant for a head. “…you’ve actually made rice balls for your boyfriend?”

“It’s not like it took long or something! And I haven’t made them specially for him –” Seongwoo defends himself when he realizes what it looks like, his ears burning. “It’s just we were making some with Jisung-hyung so I thought I’d bring some over, to snack on after the match is over—” He doesn’t clarify that they were making them _because_ Seongwoo wanted to make some for Daniel in the first place, but the way Minhyun raises his eyebrow, Seongwoo knows he isn't buying his lie anyway.

“Ongie, you really are –”

“Seongwoo-hyung! Cool poster!”

Seongwoo jerks when someone plops down on the empty seat next to him. Kim Jaehwan is grinning at him, with his arm around a gangly young-looking kid. “Glad we found you, guys.”

“Hey, Jaehwan,” Seongwoo greets him, immensely grateful for the distraction. It’s still a bit awkward seeing Jaehwan alone without Daniel here. With all the letters out and sent, it’s weird Jaehwan hasn’t said anything yet. Maybe he really hasn’t received it. Seongwoo then notices that the kid Jaehwan’s with, keeps stealing quick glances at him. “Um, who’s your friend?”

The boy smiles a bit and bows, but Jaehwan only pats his shoulder. “Guanlin-ah meet the seniors of our high – there’s Minhyun-hyung, Sungwoon-hyung and this handsome fella is Seongwoo-hyung.”

Seongwoo winces. “You’re Guanlin? Daniel’s little brother?”

Guanlin shyly nods and bows again. “I’ve heard so much about you, Seongwoo-sunbae.”

“Call me hyung,” Seongwoo automatically replies and Guanlin’s gummy smile widens.

“Guanlin-ah,” Jaehwan chirps in, while Sungwoon, Minhyun and Guanlin exchange greetings. “Guanlin-ah, no need to be so formal. That’s…” Jaehwan pats Seongwoo’s arm, giving him a long look, before continuing with an odd smirk. “…love of your bro's life. Daniel tends to be dramatic. Precious other half. But he’s practically your future family.”

Minhyun laughs. “You’re getting ahead of yourself a little, don’t you think?”

“I’m trying to save my spot as Daniel’s best man. I’m fighting Jihoon for over a week now,” Jaehwan explains with a shrug and Guanlin laughs.

Jaehwan’s funny look and shit-eating grin are somehow getting under Seongwoo’s skin – as if there was an intern joke going on between them that Seongwoo should get but doesn’t. Is it because of the letter? And the weird way he emphasized on _love of your bro's life_ as if he... Before Seongwoo can properly react to it though, the reality strikes him like a wrecking ball. _Little brother. His name is Guanlin. _It seems like ages Daniel first mentioned his brother, back then at the cat café, while they were playing the 20 questions thing.

_This_ is Guanlin? Seongwoo can’t wrap his mind around this. He looks _nothing_ like Daniel. His eyes are round, his face a perfect shape of oval, longer and sharper than Daniel’s; where Daniel is broad and strong, Guanlin is almost like a stick figure, long legs and long arms. Hell, he could even pass better for _Seongwoo’s_ brother, rather than Daniel’s.

“Yeah, call me hyung,” Seongwoo says, still a bit dazed.

“Alright. Seongwoo-hyung,” Guanlin sheepishly grins. “Niel-hyung talked about you so often, it’s almost like I already know you.”

“Oh.” Seongwoo blushes. Did Daniel really? And what does ‘so often’ even mean? Seongwoo feels his neck warm up too. God. Why does he care so much? He catches Jaehwan’s sly grin once again, and coughs, his throat suddenly dry. “Um. I hope he said only good things—”

“The best,” Guanlin assures him. “I hope we can hang out soon.”

Guanlin smiles at him then and Seongwoo can finally see the resemblance – Guanlin’s smile is so much like Daniel’s. Open and honest.

There’s suddenly a commotion on the pitch and the commentator hollers. _“Kang is at it again! Will he get a pass—” _

Seongwoo turns his attention to the field and tries to find Daniel. He doesn’t know what’s really happening, but Daniel has the ball and is sprinting like a deer towards one of the goals, three dudes in tow. Everyone seems excited, so Seongwoo figures he should be too.

Jaehwan and Guanlin shriek and jump from their seats, making Seongwoo stand up and raise the poster.

“King Kang! King Kang!” Jaehwan’s ultrasonic voice is testing their eardrums. “Goooooooo, Dani-boyyyy!”

And although he understands shit, Seongwoo joins in Jaehwan’s cheering with loud yells and whoops nonetheless, and it doesn’t take long for Minhyun and Sungwoon and the whole crowd to scream Daniel’s name.

_“And it’s a goal—! Kang Daniel is on fire—”_

Daniel is running a small victory lap, his teammates clapping his back and ruffling his hair, howling with excitement. Seongwoo sees Jihoon jump on Daniel’s back and the latter shakes him off with a laugh. Daniel’s face is bright with joy as he takes in the cheers from the bleachers. Seongwoo himself swells with pride and he’s elated, excited – and the whole school is still chanting Daniel’s name like a mantra. Daniel, however, suddenly slows down and squints his eyes, as if searching the crowd.

“What’s he doing?” Sungwoon shouts and raises an eyebrow.

“Something stupid, I bet,” Jaehwan shrieks. “He should be milking the crowds, not stand there like a complete idiot—”

“Maybe he’s looking for you?” Minhyun asks Guanlin, nodding towards the still figure of Daniel.

“Niel-hyung doesn’t know I’m here,” Guanlin shouts back and shrugs. “But I think—”

Seongwoo’s throat closes when Daniel’s face suddenly brightens up even more as he focuses on their raised poster, his gaze jumping up to meet Seongwoo’s eyes. Daniel’s grin is blinding when he slowly brings his hand to his mouth and sends a flying kiss Seongwoo’s way, his cheeks rosy.

“Woah,” Guanlin breathes out, baffled; then he turns to Seongwoo, smirking, living up to the reputation of every annoying little brother on earth. “My brother is sure whipped.”

“I’d use a different word, Guanlinie,” Jaehwan gags. “More like, ‘my brother is sure _disgusting_.’”

“No, it was sweet,” Minhyun coos. “A little cliché, but sweet. Don’t you think, Ongie?”

“I, um,” Seongwoo feels his face flare up, watching Daniel jog off back to the game. “Uh.”

Sungwoon watches him and then shakes his head. “I think Ong stopped functioning.”

The rest of the game goes on smoothly; Daniel surely being the MVP of the day, with his assists leading up to two more goals. The match ends with their school’s win and if Seongwoo’s cheeks are still red, he easily blames it on the rush of the game.

In the end, Minhyun and Sungwoon wave them goodbye, while Jaehwan goes to see Daniel down on the pitch. Seongwoo walks Guanlin out of the school grounds first, figuring he can go congratulate Daniel later.

“Seongwoo-hyung, look—” Guanlin takes his hand on their way out of the football pitch and shakes it up and down, telling him something funny about the couple in front of them. Seongwoo decides he really likes this kid – with his genuine energy and the way he laughs at all Seongwoo’s jokes it’s hard not to, to be honest. He’s almost deadly cute; Seongwoo understands why Daniel loves him so much.

Plus, Seongwoo gives cookie points to people who laugh at his jokes.

When they reach the school gates, Guanlin turns to him and beams. “Thanks for seeing me out. It was really nice meeting you, hyung—”

“You too, Guanlin-ah,” Seongwoo smiles and he means it. “Oh, can Daniel know you were here today? You didn’t sneak out or something, right?”

“No,” Guanlin laughs. “I haven’t. I’ll tell him once he’s home… Niel-hyung just didn’t want me to come alone.”

“So, you called Jaehwan?” Not a supervision Seongwoo would choose, but okay.

“Jaehwanie-hyung was the only one available,” Guanlin admits. “But maybe next time I can call you, hyung?”

Seongwoo freezes. He’s no better than Jaehwan when it comes to responsibilities, but what makes Seongwoo halt is the implication. Next time. Will there be? He and Daniel didn’t specify the ending date to this whole charade and after it’s over there might not even be a reason for a next time. However, when Guanlin’s innocent eyes stare up back at him, Seongwoo’s chest tightens, horrible taste of bitterness settling on his tongue.

Guanlin knows nothing. Everything is just a contract, just one big lie between him and Daniel. Seongwoo swallows and Guanlin’s open look cuts him like a blade.

“I… Guanlin-ah –”

“Yeah, hyung? And don’t worry, I’ll ask Niel-hyung next time. I won’t get you in trouble—” Guanlin takes out a pen and writes his number on Seongwoo’s palm. “Here’s my number, hyung. Call me, so I can save yours, okay?” Guanlin gives him one last gummy smile and waves him goodbye. “I have to go now, I don’t want mum to worry. See you, hyung!”

And when he runs off, Seongwoo feels like a fraud.

Walking back to the football pitch seems like crossing between worlds. Seongwoo still hears the cheers and loud music played in the distance from the bleachers but the school yard is entirely deserted. Seongwoo’s suddenly tired and wants to go home. More so now, when his mind is still clouded with Guanlin’s enthusiastic _maybe next time I can call _you_, hyung_?

But the rice balls in his bag are still there and he wants to congratulate Daniel. Seongwoo wants to see his face when he presents him the rice balls, wants Daniel to make fun of them and then eat them nonetheless. He wants to see him.

“Ong!”

Seongwoo automatically turns, though he doesn’t recognize the voice. A tall guy wearing their school uniform is approaching him with a bunch of other people, all their strides slow. “Ong Seongwoo, right?”

“That’s me,” Seongwoo replies. He tries to match the face to a name but fails. “Um, do I know you?” He scans the faces of the people the guy’s with and adds. “Or anyone of you…?

“Not really,” the guy says. “But we know you.”

“Oh-kay…” Seongwoo doesn’t know what’s happening but he’s getting slowly annoyed at the way this punk isn’t using the honorifics. “Do you need something or…?”

“Don’t you feel at least a little bad for making fun of Daniel-sunbae?” one of the girls asks him and gesticulates to the King Kang poster Seongwoo’s still holding in his hand. “That joke wasn’t even funny.”

Seongwoo frowns in confusion. “I wasn’t making fun of him. It’s a cheer poster.”

“Yeah, right,” the guy spits and folds his arms. “Comparing Daniel-sunbae to a giant gorilla. Cheering alright.”

“I was. Cheering on him.” What the fuck is their problem? “I just made it funnier.”

“It’s lame,” another girl says. “And so are you. You always say such stupid things and never even think before you spout the shit—”

“Hey,” Seongwoo snaps. “What—”

“Yeah, you should say sorry,” the guy interrupts him. “To Daniel-sunbae. He won a game today and doesn’t need dumb posters to taint the win.”

With that sentence, it finally clicks. Daniel’s fan club.

“And he’s supposed to be his boyfriend,” one girl in the back snorts. “Fucking joke, this one, if you ask me. Or ask anyone for that matter—oh.”

The girl stops mid-sentence, but Seongwoo’s hands have already started to tremble. The faces in front of him are blurring, one by one into a big smudge. “Shut it,” Seongwoo says, warning laced in his voice. “Really, I don’t know what the hell are you trying to pull—”

Before he can put end to this though, there’s a hand on his arm, tugging him back.

Seongwoo immediately tries to break free, but it’s only Daniel, still in his football dress. His face is tense when he smiles. “Hey, there you are, hyung. I was looking for you… Jaehwanie’s waiting in the locker room.”

“Daniel-sunbae!” The stupid jerks all break into smiles. “Congratulations, you were great—”

Daniel’s hand on Seongwoo’s arm tightens. “…Thanks.”

Seongwoo is breathing heavily and shoots the fan club a glare. “Wait—”

Daniel, however, only nods at them and says. “Hope you enjoyed the game.” Then he turns to Seongwoo. “Let’s go, hyung.”

“Daniel, wait, I’m—” Seongwoo tries to wriggle out of his hold, but Daniel just ignores him and drags him away, leaving his fan club in the school yard.

Once they’re inside the school, Daniel releases him.

“Daniel, what the fuck—”

“Woah, that was close,” Daniel only says, peeking through the window out at the school yard. He scratches his left cheek, before looking back to Seongwoo, his face concerned. “You alright? That could have turned out pretty ug—”

“Why did you do that?” Seongwoo cuts him off and Daniel shuts up. He looks surprised and Seongwoo wants to punch a wall.

“What?”

“Why did you do it?” Seongwoo repeats and clenches his fists until his knuckles whiten. “Why didn’t you let me tell them to go to hell?”

Daniel frowns. “You know why. I didn’t want to turn it into a fight. That would be useless—”

“They were talking shit about me,” Seongwoo says and swallows. “I wanted to defend myself.”

“Saying ‘go to hell’ isn’t a really good defence.” Daniel shakes his head. “And it doesn’t matter what they said. Whatever it was, it’s not worth for you getting—” 

“You heard it all, didn’t you?”

Daniel only stares at him for what seems like an eternity. Seongwoo waits. Of course he heard it. He must have. And sure enough, Daniel eventually sighs and nods. “Some.”

Seongwoo feels something in him ignite. “Then why didn’t you say something? The things they told me—”

“You know it was all bullshit,” Daniel huffs. “Load of crap—”

“That doesn’t _matter_.” Seongwoo closes his eyes for a second and when he opens them, he sees Daniel’s are wide with confusion. “Why didn’t you say _anything_?”

“Why would I try to stir things up?” Daniel sounds suddenly helpless when he tries to reply. “People talk shit all the time, you _know_ that, it’s best just to ignore them. It’s not worth the trouble. You would only get hurt—”

“I just _got_ hurt,” Seongwoo spits and Daniel winces.

Seongwoo wants to scream at him. But why? Why is he getting so worked up about this? A month ago, he might have brushed it off too, because Daniel is right about one thing – people talk shit all the time. Maybe it’s because of his talk with Guanlin, maybe not, maybe it’s something entirely else – but somehow, at this moment Seongwoo’s chest feels like a pot under pressure and the way Daniel acts so – so _expectable_ makes Seongwoo want to explode. But why now? Why does it hurt this much?

“You know I’m not that good with…” Daniel blinks up at the ceiling before he returns his gaze back to Seongwoo. “I try to avoid a fight if I can. You know that.”

Yes, he does.

Seongwoo knows it, has known it since a long time ago, knew it too well to even go and write it in Daniel’s letter. _It seems like you hate saying no to people and confrontations in general._ Seongwoo wrote that in his letter to Daniel. And it isn’t as if he were surprised at the way Daniel reacted back there – isn’t this the exact thing he didn’t like about him?

However, Seongwoo can’t help it and suddenly hate that about Daniel even more, and he knows it’s not fair, but he does. Because Seongwoo realizes that somehow during these past weeks he stupidly started to believe that he – that in all of this he might have become Daniel’s exception. _I try to avoid a fight if I can. _Hoped he were one of those little _ifs_.

And Seongwoo hates it – he hates the way his own voice is barely audible, and he hates that Daniel’s not entirely wrong, and most of all he hates that what makes him mad isn’t the fan club crap, but the fact that even now Daniel hasn’t stood up to them, hasn’t made an exception for _Seongwoo_; he just broke up the fight again, again as usual.

“Okay. So, I should have just nodded along? You would do that?”

“Hyung,” Daniel says in frustration. “Of course not. Just walk away. You know it wasn’t true and it doesn’t—”

“Daniel, you don’t get it, do you? You can’t _always_ walk away,” Seongwoo says and he doesn’t want to talk anymore, but the words are stumbling from his tongue, an unstoppable river. “You can’t possibly think you can always please everyone because no, you can’t be Switzerland every time. Sometimes, you just _have_ _to_ take sides.” Seongwoo forces himself to shrug and tries to act nonchalant, but his blood is boiling, feelings of betrayal, sadness, hurt mixing together in one giant ugly mess. “And I guess today you’ve picked yours.”

Seongwoo regrets the words the second Daniel shrinks back.

“Hyung – that’s not fair.” Daniel glares at him, voice tight. “You know it’s not like that. How can you say this? How can you even _think_ it?”

“I need a breather,” Seongwoo says, suddenly exhausted. “You don’t have to wait up. I’ll walk home—”

“Can’t we just talk? Hyung,” Daniel catches him by the elbow. “Don’t go off like this and run—” 

“I’m done talking for today,” Seongwoo growls and wriggles from his hold.

“Hyung—”

“Congrats on the win, by the way,” Seongwoo says and he can’t hide the spite that comes with the words. He hesitates, before he carefully takes out the lunch box with the rice balls he made, and shoves it into Daniel’s hands. “Congrats, King Kang.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well isn't that a nice return from hiatus! a fight! dont you just love me
> 
> ooh just a sidenote - in the end i settled on 16 chapters + short epilogue, the length of the chapters is variable bc im shit at being constant so theres that
> 
> please, hit kudos if you liked the chapter and if you got a moment to spare drop a feedback! i love reading the comments and they just make my day... it's nice to know i'm not writing this for nothing! hope you enjoyed the update and let's see how these idiots are going to solve their teen angst drama
> 
> (btw all opinions on guanlin's character are very welcome) (also, hope you liked the king kang joke, like, i'm so proud, can't believe nobody has done that edit already)
> 
> heads up for updates - twt @dorkitos  
see you next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> instagram is for aesthetic shit, not revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiya!
> 
> here's the new chapter, as promised, sunday sharp!
> 
> i would like to thank everyone who left kudos and and even more to those who left a feedback with their thoughts - you really saved me and this fic tbh. so thank you once again, i'm immensely grateful.
> 
> previous chapter was pretty emotional for me and i'm glad that some of you found it that way too - i'm kind of proud that my writing made you really /feel/ things, bc it's the greatest thing i could have asked for.
> 
> please enjoy!

Daniel doesn’t text him the next day.

Not that Seongwoo’s surprised. Or disappointed. Because he is neither of those things.

At least he thinks he’s not. Whatever.

“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Jisung asks and reaches over to grab it. “We’re watching the amazing BTS’s _I need u_ stage, you aren’t allowed to be distracted. Who texts you anyway? You don’t have that many friends.”

“Wah, hyung,” Seongwoo huffs and dodges Jisung’s grabby hands. “Way to make me feel appreciated.”

“Well,” Jisung smiles. “You know me. One pick-me-up line at a time.”

It’s Saturday and Seongwoo and Daniel were supposed to go hang out in the park where Daniel b-boyed. But after their fall out yesterday, Seongwoo guesses it’s off.

Seongwoo knows it wasn’t entirely fair, nor it was right to run away without even giving Daniel much of a chance to fully explain himself. That passive aggressive lunch box gift wasn’t the most mature thing Seongwoo’s done in his life either.

But the way Daniel just stood there and let his fan club talk trash about him… it made Seongwoo sad. And damn angry. As if Seongwoo wasn’t even worth _one_ Daniel’s curse word; after all the time they’ve spent together Seongwoo wasn’t enough of a reason to stand up to them.

Seongwoo groans and sinks into the couch. Part of him wants to forget this whole thing and run to the park to see Daniel, because he still wants to _properly_ congratulate him on yesterday – Daniel played amazingly well (or so Seongwoo thinks, judging by the fact the school chanted Daniel’s name for half an hour after the game was over) and Seongwoo wants to know if Daniel would like the poster to keep and wants to know whether he liked the rice balls.

But the prouder half is still annoyed with him. Still mad.

Still hurt.

“No, really, Seongwoo,” Jisung’s voice cuts through his thoughts. “What’s up?”

Seongwoo blinks. “What do you mean?”

Jisung sighs. He’s sitting on the couch too, feet propped up on Seongwoo’s lap. Seongwoo notes that he’s wearing his socks. God. His uncle’s habit of stealing Seongwoo’s clothes is really going to ruin his life one day – oh, wait. It already has.

“You have this face,” Jisung explains and gesticulates towards Seongwoo in general. “The face of utter annoyance.”

“Annoyance?”

“Yeah. But the weird thing is…” Jisung rubs his chin, squinting his eyes as in deep thought, studying Seongwoo’s face more closely. “You’re feeling… guilty about something too.” Jisung sighs and pins him with a suspicious look. “What did you do?”

“Pfff,” Seongwoo snorts. _Guilty_? The only one who’s supposed to be feeling guilty is Daniel. Why would he feel guilty? _He_ was the one who got bullied, goddammit. “You’re seeing things.”

“Nah,” Jisung shakes his head. “Something happened. That’s why you’re annoyed. But you also did something and now you’re feeling bad about it.”

“You’re wasted as a reality agent, you know that, right?” Seongwoo deadpans. “You should be a therapist, hyung. Or a life guru.”

“I _am_ your life guru,” Jisung only replies and Seongwoo hits his knee. “Oi, punk. How dare you hit me.”

“Why would I feel guilty?” Seongwoo asks, irritated.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Nothing happened,” Seongwoo grumbles.

“Of course.”

BTS’s stage reaches its end and the music show goes on another performance. Seongwoo keeps quiet and so does Jisung, except for an occasional hum.

“Hypothetically, hyung,” Seongwoo starts, fiddling with his thumbs.

“Hypothetically,” Jisung repeats, still watching the TV.

“Hypothetically… if you had a friend. A really good friend, like, you can talk about stuff and you spend time together and I mean not just at school, you like hanging out in general—”

“Uh-huh,” Jisung nods, so Seongwoo would know he’s listening.

“And then one day,” Seongwoo sighs and starts observing the hem of his sleeve. “One day, you get into an argument with some people who talk shit— uh, I mean rubbish about you. Saying mean stuff. And that good friend of yours hears it.”

Jisung straightens up and frowns a little. “Go on.”

“And…” Seongwoo recalls Daniel’s hold on his arm as he dragged him away from the school yard. “And that friend doesn’t step in. He just sort of ignores the bullies and then drags you away from the whole thing, saying he didn’t want it to turn into a fight.”

Seongwoo stares at his palms and he feels his uncle shift a little in his seat, observing Seongwoo’s face.

“I see.”

“What would you feel?” Seongwoo turns to Jisung, trying to tone down the impatience for an answer. “I mean, it was a total betrayal, right? I mean, um, hypothetically, you are _right_ to be angry with him?”

There’s a hesitant pause, before Jisung mutes the TV.

“You shouldn’t ever feel the need to justify how you feel, Seongwoo.” His uncle cocks his head. “So, it’s reasonable, yes. But… not necessarily ‘right’.”

“_What_?”

Seongwoo doesn’t know what he expected, but it sure wasn’t what his supposed blood relative just said. Seongwoo can’t _believe_ this. “Hyung, he totally backstabbed me—um, you—”

Jisung sighs and holds up his hand to shut Seongwoo up. “Seongwoo, let me finish—”

“But, _hyung_—” If his uncle sides with Daniel in this, in _a hypothetical scenario_, it will be the end of it, the biggest treason of all. “He—”

“Wait, wait,” Jisung says. “Wait. I meant it – it’s reasonable to get angry. I’d be totally surprised if you – um, _I_ weren’t hurt. Um. In this hypothetical situation.” Jisung threads his fingers together and takes his feet off Seongwoo’s lap. “But I wouldn’t jump to these rigid “right” and “wrong” boxes.”

“He should’ve said something,” Seongwoo grits through his teeth. “It was the only right thing to do—”

“Yeah, I think he could have,” Jisung agrees slowly. “I think he should have.”

“So, it was normal to expect it?” Seongwoo asks.

“Yes. But… I don’t want you to think of it right away as a treason if he didn’t. He’s… he’s been a good friend so far, right?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“And – hypothetically, of course – we know this friend well?”

“Um, yeah.” Seongwoo scratches his nape. “Well enough.”

“Then we should know what he is like,” Jisung continues. “How he acts, what he’s like with people and in difficult situations, how _he_ deals with conflicts… we would know whether he had good intentions. Do you think he agrees with them? Agrees with the stuff they said?”

“No,” Seongwoo says. Daniel’s face is vivid in his memory when he said _How can you even _think_ it?_

“And do you think he was lazy or found himself too indifferent to say something?”

“No—not indifferent, but—”

Seongwoo doesn’t know where this is going but Jisung doesn’t seem like someone who’s ready to burn Daniel’s pictures and curse him for eternity.

“How I see it… if he’s a good friend… maybe he just didn’t see it like the right way to approach this thing,” Jisung pauses, his voice levelled. “Or maybe he didn’t defend you… because _he_ just couldn’t. Maybe he wanted to. Maybe… it wasn’t even entirely about you, but more about him trying to overcome himself and failing.”

“_What_?” Seongwoo clenches his fists, feeling betrayed, _again_, but this time his uncle is holding the knife. Couldn’t he just agree with Seongwoo? “What are you talking about? What do you mean it _wasn’t about me_? They talked trash and he just—”

“No, really, Seongwoo,” Jisung forces him to sit up straighter and takes his fisted his hands in his own. “Really imagine it now. Every person is different. Try to forget your anger and this treason thing and try to see it from his point of view.”

Seongwoo doesn’t want to. He just wants Jisung to badmouth Daniel and throw Seongwoo a pity party; what’s up with these weird empathy exercises?

“Try to think about it,” Jisung repeats. “You see your friend getting bullied. You—”

“I would go there and defend them, of course!” Seongwoo shouts. “It’s –”

“_You_ would. But not everyone. Not everyone has _your_ guts. Someone would go get help. Someone would try to solve it. Someone would confront them later or—”

“Are you saying it was alright I got bullied and he didn’t even lift a finger—” 

“_No_. Of course not,” Jisung frowns, his face hard.

“Then—”

“There isn’t only _one_ good way to handle a difficult thing. In some situations, your hot head is more trouble and in some it would be called for. You see? Then it all comes down to one thing. We all choose our battles – and figuring out which ones we should, and which ones are within our possibilities can be sometimes hard.” Jisung lightly rubs Seongwoo’s knuckles. “Maybe your friend is wired this way and has a different point of view. Or he had different boundaries and is still testing how wide they are and how much he can push them.”

Seongwoo bites his lip, and he remembers the way Daniel looked at him. _You know I’m not that good with… I try to avoid a fight if I can. _

“Maybe he wanted to solve this without ruckus. Ignoring some things is a defence too, you know, and sometimes not necessarily a bad one. What I’m saying is that we all fight our own fears and flaws,” Jisung says. “You try to overcome them, but they can still influence your decisions.”

“I don’t know. I thought I was enough of a reason to…” Seongwoo mumbles. “I just wished he… he would say something.”

Jisung sighs. “What we should, what we shouldn’t… you just do what you think is best at that moment and what you think you _can_ do and hope it’s going to be the right thing to do. Maybe your expectations just weren’t in line with what he was able to give back then. You said he didn’t want to turn it into a fight—”

“But he always says that,” Seongwoo can’t help but grumble.

“—_but_ it’s not like he did _nothing_. He helped in his own way – he helped the way he thought he could. He diffused the fight and got you out of there.” Jisung shrugs. “I’m not saying it was right or wrong. I guess, if _I_ got hurt like this, I would want my friend sticking up for me. But—” here he gives Seongwoo a gentle look. “—sometimes, you have to tell them what you want. And maybe that’s what friends are for. To help us learn things we can’t learn ourselves.”

“Hyung,” Seongwoo huffs. “Stop trying to sneak in a morale or an adult advice…”

“You asked for it.” His uncle ruffles his hair, and Seongwoo suddenly feels like a little boy again. “Don’t be too hard on your hypothetical friend. Listen to his side of the story too and tell him yours.”

_You know I’m not that good with… I try to avoid a fight if I can. You know that._

Whatever. Seongwoo frowns and folds his arms.

“Was this about Minhyunie?”

“No,” Seongwoo mumbles. “I said it was all hypothetical.”

“Of course. Hypothetical.”

“Yes.”

“Well. So, about those ‘hypothetical’ bullies…” Jisung says and Seongwoo turns to see his uncle cracking his knuckles. “I want names. _Now_.”

The talk he had with Jisung is gnawing at his mind and he figures that his uncle _may_ be right.

Which is very inconvenient as it gets in the way of the Being-Mad-at-Daniel-for-Eternity plan.

Seongwoo sighs. He lies down on the carpeted floors of his room and stares up at his ceiling.

The funny thing is, he’s not sure if he’s supposed to apologize to Daniel either – because yes, lashing out at Daniel and running away could be considered a reason why he _should_ apologize, but it doesn’t feel like it, at least not entirely. Is Daniel even waiting for one? Seongwoo stiffens when another thought comes – does… does Daniel even care enough to be waiting for one?

In the late afternoon though, Seongwoo grows some balls and just decides to visit him and figure it out from there.

He puts on a simple blue t-shirt and some jeans that don’t have holes in them. He shoves his wallet into the back pocket and sets out for the door.

“You going out?” his uncle yells from his room and Seongwoo hollers back. “Yeah! Just… for a breather!”

“Alright. Be back by dinner!”

Seongwoo nods, even though he knows there’s no way Jisung can see him and lets the front door close behind him.

But it is not until he gets out of the building, he realizes he has no clue where Daniel actually lives.

“Damn it,” Sengwoo curses. Daniel has been picking him up for weeks, has known _Seongwoo’s_ address for weeks, but Seongwoo never needed Daniel to tell Seongwoo his own.

Seongwoo stands there for a few agonizing minutes like a total moron before he sighs. He doesn’t like the idea, but it seems like the only solution now. He takes out his phone and dials a number.

“Hyung? Seongwoo-hyung?”

The line comes alive after a few beeps and Seongwoo exhales with relief. “Yeah, it’s me. Hi, Guanlin.”

“Oh hi, hyung!” The other’s voice is cheerful. “Why are you calling?”

“Well, um.” _Okay. Breathe, Seongwoo, breathe. _“I kind of… is Daniel home?”

“Yeah, he is,” Guanlin says carefully and Seongwoo doesn’t need to wait long for the confusion. “Why didn’t you call him yourself, hyung?”

“Ah… that’s because…” Seongwoo looks for a convenient lie, but then it occurs to him that truth may be just as good. “We had this… fight, you see.”

“Oh.” There’s a sound of pencil against a table surface and Seongwoo guesses he must be doing homework or something. “_That’s_ why he’s been in a slump all day. I figured it must have been something like that.”

“I want to… I want to make up with him though,” Seongwoo says. “So, I needed to find out—”

“Yeah, I get it, hyung,” Guanlin interrupts him, sounding still a little wary. Seongwoo wonders mildly if he thinks the fight was Seongwoo’s fault. “Come to our house?”

“Yes.” _Now the tricky part_. “Can you text me your home address?”

There’s a two-second silence before—

“What? Hyung didn’t tell you—”

“He wrote it down on a paper, but I lost it,” Seongwoo says quickly. “And to be honest… I am still scared to meet your mum, you know, scared of the _parent check_. So never actually been over at your place.”

_Please, buy it – buy it – buy it_—

“Oh, okay,” Guanlin says, his tone a bit warmer. Seongwoo calms down his erratic heartbeat. “But Seongwoo-hyung, don’t worry – mum’s really cool, I’m sure she would like you. Okay. Niel-hyung is locked up in his room right now, so you’ll have to ring him eventually to make him come out, I think. I’ll text you the address?”

“You’re a real treasure, Guanlin-ah,” Seongwoo says and he means it.

Fifteen minutes later, after riding the bus and fidgeting the whole way to Daniel’s, Seongwoo stands in front of a small family house with a black fence low enough for him to look over. It’s a simple house really – more modern than traditional, with white walls and flat roof. The lawn seems to be well taken care of, with the occasional dandelion springing up through the grass blades.

Seongwoo stares at the house, his phone in his right hand, thumb hovering above the call button.

It’s weird seeing the house. Somehow it adds another layer of _reality_ to Daniel – Daniel doesn’t live on the football field under the bleachers or in the cat café or at school. This is where he comes home.

Seongwoo sighs and presses the button.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep_—

“Hello?”

Daniel’s voice sounds sleepy. Locked in a room, napping, so it would seem.

“Um. Hello. Hi,” Seongwoo stammers out and he hears sudden rustling of sheets, as if Daniel sat up too quickly. “Daniel. Hi. It’s me, Seongwoo. Guess, you didn’t see the caller ID. Um, so… hi.” Can he _be_ any more awkward? How many times will Seongwoo greet him, for god’s sake?

“Hyung.” Daniel is silent for a while. “Why are you calling?”

“I…” Seongwoo taps his fingers against the metal of the fence. “Can we talk?”

Daniel isn’t fortunately petty enough to remind him that’s exactly what he wanted to do yesterday, before Seongwoo decided to take off. When he replies though, his tone is careful. “Sure. You want to talk on the phone or—”

“I, um,” Seongwoo rubs his eye, suddenly unsure of this all. Will Daniel even want to see him here? “Well, I’m kind of… I’m standing in front of your house.”

“What?”

“I’m here. We… can talk in person, if… if you want to.”

“Oh,” Daniel says, and he can’t hide the bewilderment. Seongwoo watches the front of the house, and he wonders which of the windows belong to Daniel’s room. Then he notices a slight shift of a curtain in one of the second-floor ones.

“Shit. You really are here—”

“Um, yes.” Seongwoo waves his hand lamely. “Is it… is it alright?”

“Yeah! Of course, wait…” Daniel’s voice turns frantic. “I – I’ll be right there, okay? Er – Three minutes, I promise—ah!” There’s a crashing sound and a loud series of other clattering noises, as if the phone – and Daniel – fell to the ground. “—_fuck_ – ow –”

“Daniel? Daniel, you okay?” Seongwoo yells into the phone, worried. “What happened?”

“M’fine! Three minutes!”

The line goes dead.

Five minutes later, Daniel appears in the front door. Seongwoo gulps at the sight of him – it’s been only a day but because of the fight it feels like it’s been years since they last talked to each other. Daniel is wearing a simple grey hoodie and some red sweatpants, his hair a soft mess, falling into his eyes. He looks so casually gorgeous as ever and Seongwoo self-consciously tries to smooth the wrinkles of his own shirt.

“Hey,” Daniel says. He looks Seongwoo up and down, trying not to be too conspicuous about it, but Seongwoo still catches him doing it. He hopes he looks at least decent.

“Hey.”

Daniel stands there for a few seconds before finally opening the gate and letting Seongwoo in. Seongwoo follows Daniel to the small greenhouse in the back of their garden, to a low bench by the cactus pots, where they sit down. Seongwoo looks up. Daniel’s face seems a bit guarded, but his poker face’s never been good – there is a whirlpool of emotions, from confusion, wariness, tiredness, anger, and finally hurt.

Seongwoo doesn’t know how to start this conversation, doesn’t know how to start making amends with him – he only got in serious fights with three people in his life: his dad, Jisung and Minhyun. He only knows what he should be doing after fights with _them_.

However, with Daniel, he doesn’t know. It’s weird that him and Daniel are even in the position to argue like this – dad and Jisung are family, Minhyun his best friend. Who is Daniel? A guy pretending to be his boyfriend. Roughly a month ago, he was a total stranger. Making up with Daniel is uncomfortable because it’s something totally new. Something he never knew he would have to do.

Seongwoo bites his lip. He catches a whiff of something minty and he frowns in uncertainty. “Did you… dude, did you make me wait because you wanted to brush your teeth?”

Daniel flushes bright red. “I just—” He mumbles something incoherent, before shaking his head, changing the subject. “How did you know where…” Daniel gesticulates to the house.

“Guanlinie.”

“Oh. Of course. What did you tell him?”

“The truth.”

“_What_?” Daniel’s eyes go wide. “The tru—”

“No, no, not _the_ truth,” Seongwoo says quickly. “The… other truth.”

“Other truth?”

Seongwoo rubs the back of his neck. “That we had a fight.”

“Oh…” Daniel scratches his ear and looks away. “That truth.”

“Yeah…”

“Look, hyung, I’m sorry,” Daniel suddenly speaks up and Seongwoo feels a prick at his heart. How come it is so easy for him to say sorry? How come he is always the one apologizing, never waiting for an apology first? “I am… about yesterday. I’m sorry you were hurt and I’m sorry if you thought I didn’t give a flying shit about defending you – because that’s not true and it hurt me that you would—you know—”

“Daniel, you don’t—” Seongwoo tries to interrupt him, but Daniel is on roll, words spilling out of him like a waterfall.

“—and to be honest, I was _pissed_, because you didn’t even give me the chance to explain and just ran off on me like that—thinking that I would—”

“I know, but Daniel—”

“—and you _know_ that is how I deal with stuff—it doesn’t mean that I didn't want - that I agree with those guys or that I don’t care—”

“I know! Shut up!” Seongwoo yells and presses his palm over Daniel’s mouth to silence him. “_I know_.” Daniel’s eyes widen and tries to say something, but the words are effectively muffled. Seongwoo looks him in the eye, while Daniel’s gaze darts all over his face, incredulous. Seongwoo bites his lip and repeats, quietly this time, slowly pulling his hand away. “I know.”

Daniel stares at him. “Hyung…”

“You are right,” Seongwoo says and his voice cracks just a tiny bit and he hopes Daniel won’t notice. “You are right, I was hurt. Because I thought…”

After his talk with Jisung, Seongwoo found that although most of his anger was gone, some of the pain still remained – surprisingly though, it wasn’t entirely because of Daniel. It was something else, something that was streaming from the frustration that was starting to be one of the common aspects of his and Daniel’s fake-dating business and it was making Seongwoo irritated and confused. There was this uncomfortable uncertainty in a new unexplored territory, of him and Daniel in a fight.

_Maybe your expectations just weren’t in line with what he was able to give back then_, his uncle said. But isn’t that the root of the problem? What is he supposed to _expect_ from Daniel and vice versa, aside from their deal? What stuff does Seongwoo, or Daniel for that matter, even have the right to be mad about? How far their rights go?

It’s not like they are nobodies to each other, but they aren’t actually a couple and they aren’t your typical friends either – because before the fake dating, they weren’t friends. They were strangers. Acquaintances. They are friends _only_ because they fake-date.

And friends don’t kiss each other.

“I just thought you would say something,” Seongwoo finally sighs. “I _wanted_ you to say something. But now I realize… I might have tried forcing you into something you are not. And I’m sorry for that.”

Because that was what Jisung tried to tell him, wasn’t it? The struggle of picking one’s battles. Seongwoo tried to force Daniel into picking up something _Seongwoo_ would. Tried to mould him into a form only Seongwoo fits, or a form Daniel doesn’t fit in yet.

“I _should_ have said something, hyung,” Daniel blurts out. “I just… I am the one who should feel sorry. Because you were right too,” Daniel rubs his forehead, suddenly looking like a little boy. “I didn’t want you to be right, but you were about something.”

“Really? About what?”

“What you said… that I can’t please everybody…” Daniel half-smiles, but it seems sad for some reason. “You were right. I know that sometimes I… I run from conflicts,” Daniel says with a grimace, as if he were getting his teeth pulled out. “I’m not talking about yesterday. Or I am, I don’t know really. But sometimes I ignore a problem, thinking that if I don’t deal with it, it would eventually, you know. Go away,” Daniel laughs a little and Seongwoo snorts at that.

“Sometimes it’s a good solution,” Seongwoo teases and he means it.

“I don’t know,” Daniel sighs out, looking over at Seongwoo and then quickly glancing away, ruffling his own hair in frustration. “Argh. This whole thing… I’m still trying to work it out…”

“No, really,” Seongwoo says, smiling a bit. “My uncle told me my hot head could be a real pain in the ass.”

“You sure are…” Daniel breathes out quietly, letting go of his hair, opting for fiddling with the hem of his sleeve instead. He raises his gaze then. “Hyung, I—” 

“Rich coming from you, Kang,” Seongwoo interrupts him though, laughing and leaning back against the bench. “Like you are any—” 

Seongwoo stops himself when he finally notices that Daniel isn’t even listening anymore – Daniel stares at him funny, making Seongwoo’s skin crawl. “What?”

“I just…” Daniel bites his lip, his face an odd mix of feelings, Seongwoo can’t differentiate. “I’m just not used to doing… _this_. I don’t even know… I don’t know how to _act_ anymore.”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrows; he isn’t sure what he’s referring to, but before he can ask, Daniel suddenly does something utterly unexpected – he gently takes Seongwoo’s hand and holds it between his own. Seongwoo’s breath hitches in his throat as he gapes at Daniel’s slender fingers. “What are you—”

His whole body is paralyzed as if he just stuck his fingers into every wall socket in town and he can’t _breathe. _The beat of his heart efficiently blocks out every other sound and Seongwoo gulps at the warmth of Daniel’s hand.

“I’m sorry they told you those things,” Daniel finally says, his voice barely above whisper. “I’m sorry they are treating you like this because of me.”

“I know,” Seongwoo squeaks out. “And it’s not your fault.”

“I still feel bad.” Daniel’s eyes are cast down and Seongwoo can’t make out his expression. “I mean when I—”

“I owe you another apology too,” Seongwoo blurts out. “I’m sorry I ran off yesterday. Assuming all those things without even willing to… to listen.”

“_God_, enough with the apologies already.” Daniel’s eyes brighten up as he looks up at him. “We… _us_, we are good then? Right?”

He’s still holding his hand, Seongwoo numbly realizes. Daniel’s thumb is softly rubbing Seongwoo’s palm and it’s familiar but somehow completely out of ordinary because they’re not putting show for anyone here. It’s just them.

The touch is electrifying.

_Addicting_.

_Why_ is he holding his hand? He doesn’t have to. There’s nobody around. It’s not like Seongwoo _asked_ him to or something. Was it just to add sincerity to his apology? What the hell is going on?

This is dangerous. Seongwoo gulps down whatever words he has on the tip of his tongue-

This is terrifying.

“Hyung?”

“Sure, buddy,” Seongwoo says hastily and yanks his hand from Daniel’s grip. “All good.”

Daniel stares at him, confused, his hands now in a rather awkward position, before his cheeks flare up, looking away, as if he too finally remembered that holding hands isn’t in their friend-book. Isn’t _normal_ between them. Holding hands and stuff is only for the acting. At school. For fake-dating purposes. “Um, okay… yeah, great.”

“Great.”

They sit there not touching each other, mute for a long while. Daniel stares off into space.

Seongwoo gulps. “So…you wanted to talk? You know, before the game when I gave you the poster?” Seongwoo scratches his wrist, desperate to change the topic. “I remember you wanted to talk about something before… you know.”

Daniel slowly shakes his head. “Never mind.” He glances quickly at Seongwoo’s hands before he gives him a small smile. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Oh, alright.”

Seongwoo wonders what’s the best way to say goodbye without looking like he’s running again, but Daniel eventually breaks the silence.

“The rice balls. Um. They were tasty.”

“Really?” Seongwoo grins widely at the sudden praise. “You ate them?”

“Every one of them,” Daniel admits with a shy laugh. “Did… did _you_ make them?”

“I did,” Seongwoo says with a smirk. “Pretty good, huh?”

“That explains why they looked more like cubes,” Daniel muses.

“What?” Seongwoo bristles. “You fucking punk, I made them for you and you still dare—”

“You made them for me?”

Seongwoo shuts up. Daniel’s eyes are round with surprise. “I thought you had spare—”

“We had!” Seongwoo quickly shrieks in a poor attempt to lie, but the damage is done, because even he would not believe himself at this point – his ears are red and his neck probably too, and Daniel is smirking— “Shut up!”

“Awwww,” Daniel coos, although Seongwoo notices with just a slight satisfaction, his ears look pink too. “You _made_ them for me.”

“Just go to hell,” Seongwoo mumbles and stands up. “I’m going home, asshole.”

“Wait, it’s late,” Daniel says and stands up too. “I’ll give you a ride.”

“No need, I can take the bus.”

“Nah,” Daniel grins and he nods to his house. “My mum _and_ Guanlin would be very disappointed in me if I didn’t give a ride to my _baby boo_.”

Seongwoo gags and Daniel gives him a wide grin with an innocent shrug. "Don't pretend you don't like it."

Seongwoo flips him off.

On one Saturday, Seongwoo’s hanging out with Minhyun in the park. It’s been some time since they actually were together just like this – without Sungwoon and Daniel, just the two of them.

“So, how’s the lover boy?” Minhyun asks and lies down on his back. They brought a picnic blanket and cheap vending machine snacks and are just rolling out in the sunshine.

Seongwoo reaches for his phone and pulls up the Instagram. “Same old. Jockish.”

“That’s not a mood, Ong.”

“Could be,” Seongwoo says and throws a peanut into his mouth. “He’s fine. Frustrated because of his history essay, but otherwise fine, I guess.”

Sungwoon posted a new pic of Minhyun under a streetlamp, somewhere getting a snack. Minhyun is laughing into the camera, hands blurry in front of his face.

_Caption: Mi-nyeom_.

Sungwoon and his extra captions, really. Seongwoo would be disgusted if it weren’t kind of sweet.

“Tell Sungwoon his insta captions make me hurl into my mouth. How could you even let him post it with something like that?”

Minhyun shrugs, although he _does_ flush pink. “His Instagram is his business. I’m respecting his boundaries.”

Seongwoo snorts and looks back at the photo. He’s a bit sad they hung out without him, but it wasn’t something he wasn’t used to. The two were a couple after all. Minhyun and Sungwoon must be assuming that now him and Daniel are a thing, they spent every waking minute making out (honeymoon phase and all).

“I mean we are dating, but I’m not gonna kick his ass, because he decided to attach an embarrassing nickname, Ong. I mean it’s kinda cute. Would kick you, though.”

“Hey!” Seongwoo pouts. “What do you—” 

But suddenly it hits him.

Looking at the picture of his friends on a date, Seongwoo suddenly realizes what exactly _is_ the problem, the thing that bothered him, boiling just underneath the layers of weirdness that is floating between him and Daniel.

Back then, right before the fight with Daniel, right before he accused Daniel of not taking his side, Seongwoo realizes that all he felt at first was this unbearable confusion. The way he wasn’t sure, the way he didn’t even know _how_ he was supposed to react to his hurt feelings – because he had a shit idea of _how_ he should be mad at him. Mad at him like a friend is at a friend? A fake boyfriend at a fake boyfriend? Mad as in fight-in-a-relationship mad? A classmate at a classmate—?

Seongwoo sits up and stares once again at the Instagram picture, the heart emoji next to Minhyun’s name (or next to that horrible pun of a name, as you will).

It’s _this_ that Seongwoo absolutely cannot stand with Daniel – the whole blurriness, vagueness, the lack of _definition_.

Because here he has his two friends and Seongwoo knows exactly where he stands with them – Minhyun, his best friend – Sungwoon, his friend and also his secret unrequited crush.

And the stuff between Minhyun and Sungwoon were definite too – Minhyun and Sungwoon were together, so they acted like a couple, because they were a couple. The lines were obvious. Seongwoo would know what rights he has as _a friend_, what he has a right to be mad about and how he should be mad at them, and vice versa.

With Daniel? Not so much.

At first, Daniel was supposed to be nobody. An underclassman who blocked Seongwoo’s way in the halls. But then he suddenly became a business partner. Someone who helped him. And then…

The brightness of Daniel’s laugh is now etched into his grey matter, the horrible jokes are still ringing in his ears, the way he makes people special with just one look is playing with his heartstrings.

The press of his lips against his own is something unforgettable.

Seongwoo sighs and rubs his eyes. This is a disaster.

Maybe he’s thinking too much into this. Daniel sure isn’t.

“And you’re one to talk, Ong. You and Daniel are sickeningly lovey-dovey. I’m surprised Daniel even gets some work done,” Minhyun draws out lazily and Seongwoo slowly comes back to the moment. He almost forgot he isn’t alone. “You hang out awful lot of time. And judging by the lunches, it’s impossible he can focus on studying with you around.”

“Hey,” Seongwoo nudges him in the ribs. “What’s that supposed to mean? It’s not my fault he sucks at studying.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Minhyun yawns. “You’re just a horrible distraction.”

“Distraction?”

“Yup. He can’t stop staring at you. Like _ever_.” Minhyun closes his eyes. “He’s fucking whipped for you.”

Seongwoo pauses. If what’s Minhyun says is true, then Daniel… is better actor than he gives himself a credit for. And thinking he was so freaking nervous when they started this whole fake-dating thing... Seongwoo makes sure to remember and text Daniel Minhyun’s unintentional assessment of his acting skills later. “He does? Well, I am an eye-candy for sure.”

“God,” Minhyun laughs and shoves his shoulder. “No, but really. It’s really sweet… the way he’s trying to catch your reaction to whatever crap and just, you know. Making sure you’re having a good time.”

“Oh,” Seongwoo says a little bit taken aback at the words. Isn’t Minhyun looking a bit too much into this? It’s supposed to be Seongwoo’s thing, over-analyzing stuff. “You seem to stare a lot too?”

“Are you trying to make me look like I’m after your man? The day I would see you jealous!” Minhyun cackles and Seongwoo snorts, remembering the Sungwoon Thing. Seongwoo shrugs, trying the whole nonchalance thing and starts looking for Daniel’s Instagram, while he’s at it.

He never actually checked Daniel’s Instagram (being the only person at their high school who refused to stalk Kang Daniel) – and Minhyun just did say something about Daniel’s Instagram being worse than Sungwoon’s, which is already a high bar to reach.

And Seongwoo’s also curious. What is Daniel doing right now? What did his life look like _before_ Seongwoo?

He expects pictures of cats or pics of the football field from thousands of different angles (old prejudices die hard), but he almost chokes when the page finally loads. “What the—”

“What is it, Ong?” Minhyun mumbles tiredly, as if he had enough of Seongwoo’s shenanigans for a lifetime; but Seongwoo can’t really reply because, Daniel’s Instagram—

Yes, there are cats, and yes, there is the school football field, Daniel’s friends, lots of Daniel’s selfies, Daniel’s bboying videos and Daniel’s attempts at romantic scenery pictures. But what makes Seongwoo sit up straighter, absolutely fuming, is that Daniel’s profile also greets him with _tons_ of photos of Seongwoo _himself_.

“That _asshole_—”

“Oh, Daniel’s Instagram,” Minhyun drawls out, looking over Seongwoo’s shoulder. “I told you he’s worse… huh, you sure are respecting your boyfriend’s boundaries if it’s only now you’re checking it out. I laugh at it with Woon daily.”

And Seongwoo knows why – because he’s _there_: he’s there sleeping and drooling with his head on Daniel’s shoulder, Daniel grinning widely in the frame. He’s there stuffing his face with rice and he’s there trying to jump rope during gym class sweating and just absolutely disgusting. He’s there drinking from a can of cola in the club meeting room and the pic is followed by another one, where he’s spitting the cola everywhere because it got into a wrong pipe—

There are _too many_ unflattering photos of him and the variety of them is astonishing. It’s like a gallery to _Ong Seongwoo is a freaking clown_.

_Fucking_ Kang Daniel.

Seongwoo bitterly snorts, remembering the conversation they had on the school roof, when Seongwoo snapped the pic of Daniel for his wallpaper.

_Dear, you look just fantastic. I think I can see your brain right through the nostrils, _Seongwoo told him – but Daniel only smiled in reply then and said: _I’ll get you for that._

Guess. He. Really. Did.

What a dick.

Seongwoo scoffs again, but then he notices that aside from ugly monster photographs there is a bunch of others and Seongwoo’s heart suddenly breaks into an erratic run.

The photos are a totally 180° turn from the horrible funny ones –

“These ones make me soft though,” Minhyun muses, as Seongwoo slowly goes through them. “Another proof he’s fucking whipped. It feels just…”

There is one where Seongwoo’s face is calm, writing something in his journal, sparks dancing in his eyes. He’s there feeding a stray cat on their way to the cat café. He’s there grinning wildly on the school roof, gesturing at something in the distance. He’s there smiling to himself, his hair catching fire in the afternoon sunlight.

He’s there, everywhere; and the one who captured the photos made him look utterly _beautiful_; just truly and beautifully real.

“…it feels like a raw emotion. Never knew Daniel is capable of taking photos like these.”

Seongwoo exhales heavily and something weird is going on in his throat; he can’t swallow, because there’s a big lump of emotions building up there, forcing its way out and Seongwoo doesn’t know what to think except the obvious questions.

How will this fake-dating even end? In _what_ will it end?

Seongwoo slowly scrolls to one of Daniel’s selfies. In this one Daniel’s face is not flashing that wide grin, but is only half-smiling into the camera, his hair a mess with a hoodie up. Seongwoo traces his eyebrows, the shape of his jaw with his eyes and can’t help but look at his lips too.

Seongwoo drops his phone aside.

How do they even revert to being, well, _something_ after this whole sham is over?

“Daniel’s a lucky guy, Ong,” Minhyun laughs. “Damn, you seem to be pretty into him.”

Seongwoo scoffs. His mind is like scrambled eggs, but he can’t help _but_ scoff. Daniel was right – if he fooled Minhyun this well, he really should try out for the acting club. He flops down at his stomach “Do I look that way?”

Minhyun laughs. “You? Yes. God, _yes_, turnip-head.”

“Is it because of the pet names?” Seongwoo’s genuinely curious now. What does he look like? What makes Minhyun think he’s head over heels in love, when he didn’t spot anything with Sungwoon? “Or the PDA?”

Minhyun snort-laughs. “Strangely – no.” Seongwoo turns to lie on his back. Minhyun scoots over a bit to make Seongwoo more space. Seongwoo glances at him, seeing his best friend already grinning lazily at him.

“Huh, really? Then what?”

“Just… you seem so relaxed, when he’s around,” Minhyun mumbles, a little drowsy from lying in the sun. “And it’s not just Daniel – you stare at him a lot too… you have this little smile and this particular look…” Minhyun laughs. “You’re my best friend, Ong-ah. Do you think I wouldn’t know if you were starting to fall in love?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are! hwang minhyun, the only one with a brain strikes again - don't tell me that seongwoo wouldn't need it spelt out for him that he's in love with daniel, like, c'mon
> 
> i was writing this chapter and i panicked halfway through bc i couldn't figure out how in the world would seongwoo find daniel's house and then i was like !! wait !! i managed to introduce guanlin! so that was fun
> 
> just so you know, seongwoo doesn't have a classic instagram account, he just has one for stalking people. if he had one, daniel would go down in 2 days tbh, no contest
> 
> what did you think of ongniel's fight and the way they resolved it? please let me know what you thought of this chapter! 
> 
> i'm open to every suggestion, (soft) criticism, every bullshit that is going through your head. feedback and encouragement is really important to every author out there and it makes them want to create - so please, never forget that, when you read/see fic/art that someone put love and their time into 
> 
> i think i'll put out some teasers for the next chapter on twitter~  
leave kudos if you liked it, comment to your heart's content and i'll see you next chapter! thank you so much for reading<33


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a party after all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update is here! and so is minki's party! yay!! don't worry i didn't forget he was supposed to have one :D 
> 
> listen to today's chapter's soundtrack, aka pd101's "super hot" - also on my twt there are some og pics of ong and daniel in their outfits for this chapter as well as i imagine it in my head, so you can check that out 
> 
> enjoy reading!!

Jisung technically _is_ Seongwoo’s guardian, but the moments he acted like one were actually pretty limited. Seongwoo’s surprised that his uncle chooses this moment as the one he’s going to go full-on adult mode.

“No drinking,” Jisung orders when he comes into Seongwoo’s room. “No drinking, no sex. No funny brownies and certainly no fire fun.”

“What does it even mean _fire fun_, hyung?” Seongwoo deadpans and goes through his wardrobe. It’s the day of Minki’s party and Seongwoo sure cares about what he’s going to wear.

Ugh. Before, he had to dress up because he was the fabulous Ong Seongwoo; now he has to take into consideration the fact he’s not just _that_ anymore – now he’s also dating Kang Daniel and everyone, _everyone_ will be there to judge his clothes. “And don’t you know I’m, like, the most responsible boy in town?”

“That’s total bullshit and you know it, because that’s Minhyunie,” Jisung says flatly. “And what I meant by ‘fire fun’ – don’t you dare set anything on fire. Don’t do the teenage dumbass things, when you think it’s amusing to make one of those homeless fires in a barrel.”

“You watch too many films, hyung.”

“I’m watching the news. And documentaries about your rotten generation.”

Seongwoo sighs. “Trust me a little, will you?”

Jisung snorts.

“Prejudice is the thing that turns kids into delinquents, you knew that, hyung?”

“It’s justified prejudice in my case,” Jisung exclaims. “Once, I had to pick you up from _Busan_ when you went to Dongho’s. Damn _Busan_. How the hell did you end up in Busan?”

“That wasn’t my fault! It was Dongho’s birthday—”

Jisung gets up and walks over to Seongwoo’s wardrobe. “I wouldn’t care even if it was the pope having birthday.” He takes out a plain black v-neck tee. “Here. Wear this. Simple suits you best. ”

“Thanks, hyung,” Seongwoo replies and changes. The collar is little bit too low and kind of racy (his collar bones feel naked), but hey, it’s a party after all. “Daniel should be here in a moment.”

“It’s still beyond me why would Daniel suddenly start picking you up for school and giving you rides back home,” Jisung says, shaking his head. “It’s been a while now…” Jisung then suddenly narrows his eyes. “Are you bullying him?”

“_What_?”

“Because if you _are_—”

“I’m _not_, geez!” Seongwoo laughs.

“Then how come you became such good friends all of a sudden—”

“It’s just…we…” Seongwoo chooses to stare at the brown wood of his wardrobe. Seongwoo has to lie – not that he’s doing anything new. He can’t actually tell his uncle about the fake dating thing, LOL. “Surprisingly… I like him and I really love… hanging out with him. We have a good chemistry.” Seongwoo frowns. It’s little weird; because this supposed lie feels like truth. Minhyun’s rubbish talk must be getting to him. _Don’t you think I wouldn’t know if you were starting to fall in love? _

Jisung shakes his head. “I couldn’t believe it when you told me that guy on a motorbike was Kang Daniel. I mean, I remember him from the football club – small, chubby… and now he’s like…” Jisung waves his arms around as if strong gesticulation could sum up what Daniel has become.

_Tall? Cute? Handsome? Damn snack?_ Yeah, Seongwoo and the whole school noticed and think so too.

“…all _that_.”

Seongwoo scoffs. “What about me?”

Jisung smiles. “I’m just glad you’re tall enough to get things off shelves.”

“Hey!”

About half an hour later, there’s finally a buzz of their doorbell and Seongwoo springs up from the table. “He’s here! Then I’ll be going—”

“Not so fast,” Jisung says and nods towards the door. “Invite him in, I want to greet him.”

Seongwoo makes this face, like _w_ _h_ _y_.

“Because! You’ve been riding his motorbike for god knows how long and I haven’t even met the guy properly!” Jisung gives him a very important look. “I am your guardian, I want to know what kind of sort you’re hanging out with.”

Seongwoo mumbles something obscene, but it’s obvious Jisung won’t back down. “I – uh, can’t you just wave at him from balcony or something?”

“Seongwoo. No.”

Seongwoo whines. “Just don’t… you know.”

“What?”

“Be weird.”

“That’s _your_ specialty,” is Jisung’s only reply and Seongwoo wails in pain. This is going to go spectacularly.

Seongwoo can hear from the intercom that Daniel’s surprised by the invite too, but he comes up nonetheless. There’s a timid knock on the door and Seongwoo lets him in the apartment, mentally biting his fingers. For some reason he’s _nervous_ – because strangely, Seongwoo desperately wants Daniel to like Jisung, and more importantly – for Jisung to like Daniel.

“Hi. Uh, I mean, hello. Um. Sir,” Daniel stammers out, so tall and all awkward, that Seongwoo face palms.

“Hi,” Jisung says cheerfully, totally ignoring the way Daniel is trying to melt into their kitchen floor. “Kang Daniel, right?”

“Yeah…um, yes, that’s me.” Daniel shuffles with his helmet for a second before he adds. “Sir.”

“No need to be this formal, don’t you remember me?”

“I do actually,” Daniel says and smiles. “You were coaching us—”

“Ha!” Jisung triumphantly turns to Seongwoo. “Ha! And you said I didn’t make an impact.”

Daniel laughs at that and shakes his head. “No, you were really great.”

Jisung sends Seongwoo another victorious gaze and Seongwoo thinks _oooh---kayyy, time to go_. “Hyung, can we go now? You said your hi and hello—”

“Wah, Daniel!” Jisung says and doesn’t even pretend that he heard him. “You’ve changed so much! You’re so tall and handsome now…”

“Ah…thank you.” Daniel uncertainly scratches the back of his head, grabbing his nape shyly as he glances at Seongwoo, a clear call for help.

“Jisung-hyung, let’s do this some other ti—” 

“And I heard you’re even the football cap, who would have guessed back then that little towel boy Daniel would become so successful! And how come you suddenly started hanging out with Ong? After the club shut down, I never saw you around—”

Jisung talks a lot and Seongwoo painfully thinks that it’s too early in the evening to have a headache.

“I, um, actually…I am…Seongwoo-hyung’s boyfriend,” Daniel says and Seongwoo almost coughs up a lung, because, um, _you just said _what_ now_?

“What? _Really_?” Jisung widens his eyes, shock written all over his face. “_Now_ that’s amazing!”

He grabs Seongwoo by his shoulders. “You! You never tell me anything, do you? Does your dad know?”

“No, he doesn’t. So, please don’t tell him,” Seongwoo laughs uneasily. “Ha ha. And you know me, hyung. Mysteries… I live for them. Just...”

Splendid.

“Okay, okay, go on then,” Jisung chimes and pushes Seongwoo towards Daniel. “You don’t want to be late. But—” here he makes a very scary pause and Seongwoo knows he won’t like what’s coming next. “—make sure to come over for dinner sometime, Daniel, okay? I’m letting you off today, but we have to do the basic interrogation if you’re dating my sweet nephew! Did I say interrogation? I meant introductions, of course. Bring Ong home by one o’clock max. Okay, then – bye! Have fun!”

He shoves them out of the doors and Seongwoo takes Daniel’s hand, pulling him towards the staircase, half-running. “God, _come on_, before he changes his mind and forces us to stay – why did you even _tell_ him that we’re dating – ?”

“I’m sorry! I just blurted it out because I was so used to it—”

“God, Kang, really…”

“But I like him. He was really nice,” Daniel laughs and lets Seongwoo tug him all the way down to his parked motorbike – and Seongwoo can’t help but feel happy hearing those words.

Once they’re out, Daniel mumbles. “You…um. You can let go now… you’re kind of crushing my hand…”

“Oh,” Seongwoo says and immediately yanks his hand away. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Daniel takes out Seongwoo’s helmet, but then he cocks his head to the side, smiling hesitantly. “Is something wrong?”

It’s not until then Seongwoo realizes that he’s been kind of staring at Daniel – and to be honest it’s really hard not to. Daniel’s wearing a simple black leather jacket and black jeans, but he just looks so damn _gorgeous_ that for a second there, Seongwoo’s heart stutters and—

Wait. _No_. Seongwoo swallows heavily and tries not to look in Daniel’s dark eyes. “Um. No, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

Daniel studies him for a while, pausing his gaze at his v-neck; Seongwoo gulps but Daniel only smiles. “Okay. Here.”

Seongwoo takes the helmet and hopes his cheeks are not as red as they feel. He quickly pulls down the visor. Daniel shuffles with the lock to the bike storage compartment before he puts on his own helmet and swings his leg over the driver’s seat.

“Hold on tight,” Daniel says – like usual, like he said _million_ times already, but Seongwoo is suddenly hyper-aware of his hands and of where he should put them, nervous like the first time he got on Daniel’s bike.

_Don’t you think I wouldn’t know if you were starting to fall in love?_

“Hyung?” Daniel. “You okay there?”

“Yeah! Spectacular! Sorry…” Seongwoo lightly places his hands on Daniel’s sides. “I was just…”

“Yes?”

“Never mind. I’m ready.”

Daniel starts the engine and they slowly make their way out of the parking lot. Seongwoo is trying not to clench Daniel’s hips too forcefully, but because of that, the strength of the wind and the momentum throws him against Daniel’s back and he instinctively grabs Daniel’s waist, circling his arms around Daniel’s torso. Daniel’s body tenses up.

“Sorry!” Seongwoo yells over the loud sound of the wind. “I—”

“No!” Daniel shrieks back. “It’s fine! Hold—”

The wind is ripping Daniel’s words apart, but Seongwoo gathers from the snippets that he’s fine with it. His heart is thumping against his ribcage, when he hugs Daniel from behind, feeling the other’s flat stomach under his fingers even through the layers.

They’re whiffing through streets, street lights turning into colours of red, blue and gold as they pass them by, but the only thing Seongwoo can focus on is Daniel’s strong body and the uncomfortable feeling coming up his throat, ready to choke him.

Once they arrive at Minki’s, Seongwoo immediately lets go as if burnt, and jumps off the bike just as quickly. The party must have already started – although it’s only about seven, the music is blaring loud enough to reverberate Seongwoo’s teeth. His classmates and schoolmates and people Seongwoo doesn’t know are loitering in the front yard, drinking something from red plastic cups Seongwoo’s certain isn’t apple juice.

“Here,” Seongwoo says and shoves the helmet into Daniel’s hands, turning to head inside and greet the host.

“Wait – wait, _wait_,” Daniel laughs and catches him by the arm. “Where are you running off to? We came here together, so we should, like, you know…come in together.”

“Oh, right,” Seongwoo says, embarrassed. Daniel’s still holding his hand though there is no one really to watch them, and Seongwoo wishes he would let him go. “Sorry, just got excited to see…”

Daniel’s smiling, but upon hearing Seongwoo’s words, he nods and pulls back. “Sungwoon-hyung?”

“No! I mean…yeah. And Minhyun. Minki.”

“Sure. Just wait a little bit, I’ll just—” he motions to Seongwoo’s helmet and Seongwoo laughs, although there’s nothing to laugh about. “Yeah. Of course.”

Daniel puts the helmet back into the motorbike and then he offers his hand to Seongwoo. “Shall we?”

Seongwoo’s throat is a little bit dry when he takes it. Daniel’s hand is warm like always, rough like always, big as _always_, but Seongwoo squirms a little, uncomfortable.

They enter Minki’s house, Daniel saying too many his and hellos to whomever they bump into. Seongwoo smooths down his shirt with his free hand and scans the room, looking for Minhyun and Sungwoon, or just any familiar face. He spots Woojin and Jihoon by the beer cans, Somi and Eunji with a few other girls he doesn’t recognize.

Daniel squeezes his hand. “Don’t go too far, please,” he whispers and Seongwoo almost jumps from his skin when he feels Daniel’s breath against his earlobe. “There might be some, um, people…well, I want them to see me with you.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Daniel intertwines their fingers and Seongwoo lets him because he always lets him.

Minki bursts from the crowd, throwing his hands around Seongwoo, nearly knocking him to the ground. Seongwoo manages to stay upright only thanks to Daniel who grounds him. “Ong-ah! You came!”

“I see you’re already drunk,” Seongwoo laughs and then turns to Daniel. “He wouldn’t be so happy to see me, if he weren’t,” he offers an explanation and Daniel grins at that.

“’M _not_ drunk,” Minki whines. He taps his chin, or Seongwoo thinks he wanted to tap his chin, but instead almost pokes out his own eye. “…at least…I think so. But I really love youuuu, Ongieee—”

“_Al_-right,” Seongwoo pats him on the cheek. “I’m kind of scared of you when you are this nice, so I’m off. See you later.”

They make their way to the corner, sitting down on the couch. Daniel immediately throws an arm around Seongwoo, resting his forehead against his shoulder. “I wish we could just hang out instead.”

“I thought you wanted to go to a party?” Seongwoo says, surprised.

Daniel looks taken aback, his cheeks taking on a shade of pink. He mumbles something, but the music’s too loud to hear him. “Aww, what? You love hanging out with me so much?” Seongwoo teases and presses against Daniel’s side, trying to catch his reply, but Daniel startles at their sudden proximity and only laughs. “As if.”

“C’mon, admit I’m—”

“Seongwoo!”

Seongwoo turns to see Minhyun and Sungwoon coming their way. He senses Daniel’s hand tensing up on his shoulder, before he greets his friends. “Hey. You here long?”

“No, just a while. We were helping Minki set up some things,” Minhyun says, smiling and sighing right after. “Then he drained a bottle of something questionable and…well, I guess you saw him.”

“Unfortunately,” Seongwoo admits.

“I love this song,” Sungwoon sighs out, his head bobbing into the beat. Seongwoo turns his gaze at his words, taking in his outfit and something old and familiar grips his stomach. Sungwoon looks cute and sexy at the same time, wearing black low-collar shirt and ripped jeans. And his lips are just so _full_ and nice. It’s been a while since Seongwoo fully admired them.

“Ong, you want to dance?” Sungwoon suddenly asks him. Seongwoo freezes, while Daniel raises his head, giving Sungwoon a weird look.

“What?” Seongwoo can’t comprehend the situation. Sungwoon wants to _dance_ with him?

Sungwoon makes a face. “I asked if you wanna dance.”

_God, get a grip, Ong_. Seongwoo tries to form an intelligible sentence, but Daniel beats him to it. “What about Minhyun-hyung?”

“I tried persuading Hwang, but he’s totally against it.”

Daniel stares at Sungwoon with a small smile on his face. It feels a bit off and Seongwoo opens his mouth to ask him what’s wrong, but Daniel just says, his voice strangely tight. “Minhyun-hyung, don’t you want to dance with your bf?”

Minhyun lifts his hands, palms front. “Sorry. Dancing is not my thing.”

Seongwoo bites his lip, because he’s not sure if this is such a great idea – him dancing with his long-term crush, when he could do something really—

But shouldn’t he do it _because_ he’s scared? To get normal? Immunized?

“Ong?”

Seongwoo takes a deep breath. Yep. He needs to get immunized. Like doing something scary to get rid of that fear. This is it. He’s getting over his crush. Because dancing with your crush is dangerous – but dancing with your friend is normal.

“Yeah, I’m going,” Seongwoo says and gets up. Before he can make a step to Sungwoon though, someone catches his hand, stopping him. Seongwoo startles and turns to see Daniel holding his wrist, half-standing up from the sofa. Daniel himself looks pretty surprised too, as he glances at his hand, as if he didn’t remember lifting it in the first place.

“Um? Daniel?” Seongwoo laughs. What’s he doing? “What’s wrong?”

“I – uh, nothing,” Daniel says as he slowly lets go. “Sorry…”

“Ong? You coming or what?” Sungwoon’s already at the edge of the dancing floor, where a big crowd of people dance to the rhythm of ‘Super Hot’. “I want to dance _today_, if possible.”

“Yeah…coming.” Seongwoo gives Daniel one last look, but Daniel’s just staring at his own hand with a perplexed frown. Seongwoo shrugs it off and walks to Sungwoon, his heart doing back flips as he reaches him, nervous and excited from the dance, though he’s still partly aware of the hotness Daniel’s fingertips left on his wrist.

The dance is strangely… okay. Seongwoo is surprised it didn’t turn into any of the awkward scenarios he’s pictured in his head; but it’s as normal as friendly dance can be – it’s just a goofing around, Sungwoon making fun of the sexy music and exaggerating his moves to match it. They stay for three more songs and Seongwoo is laughing too much to actually dance.

When they return, they find Daniel and Minhyun at the same spot, talking. Minyhun’s smirking about something, while Daniel seems mildly annoyed.

“Hey, we back, darlings,” Seongwoo says and Daniel immediately snaps his head up when he sees them approaching, scooting aside to make room. Seongwoo hesitates but then plops down and tries to go for the most cliché boyfriend pose ever, resting his hand on Daniel’s stomach. Daniel cackles and puts his arm around him, kissing his cheek. It tickles and Seongwoo laughs, but Daniel only playfully presses another peck to his temple. It’s _nice_.

However, after about one and a half second later, the feeling turns bitter.

Bitter? Does he have a right to feel bitter? God, about what? His friends are loud around, talking, talking and talking, but Seongwoo can’t really concentrate on any of the topics or the music being played. He sips the cheap beer and blames his mood on that. Fucking Minki couldn’t he have bought less shitty beer?

“Good God, were you two… always so awful?”

It’s Jaehwan, two red cups in his hand. Daniel cocks his head at Jaehwan’s voice, his hand casually moving to rest on Seongwoo’s thigh. Seongwoo finds himself staring at it for a second too long before he snaps his attention to Jaehwan. “What? You mean, adorable?”

“…I mean…” Jaehwan turns to Minhyun and focuses on his face. “Daniel’s been always disgusting, but now he’s in _loooove_ and been annoying the heck out of me…” Jaehwan’s wobbles a little and Daniel springs up from his seat to steady him. “My Dani, Dani…Dani, does Seongwoo-hyung know you… want to raise two kids with him? The… white picket fence shit you were blabbering about….? That time we—”

“Shut your trap,” Daniel snorts, shooting Seongwoo a freaked-out look, before guiding Jaehwan to the sofa. “You certainly go all the way, don’t you, bud?”

“Party…is…not a party…without booze,” Jaehwan says and pats Daniel’s cheek. “My dearest friend.” His gaze slides to the rest of them, stopping at Seongwoo. “Hey. It’s Seongwoo-hyung…I…need…to talk to…you.”

Seongwoo raises his eyebrow. “You look like you need a nap, actually.”

“Nooooo… now! Now!” Jaehwan leans against Daniel. “Now! Hyuuuung…”

“Okay!” Seongwoo laughs and stands up. “I better go with him. Make him lie down or something.”

“I’ll go with you,” Daniel says. “He looks like he –”

“No! Without you, Dani boy,” Jaehwan slurs out. “Don’t worry, buddy, I won’t tell anyone about _the thing_.”

“Hwan, c’mon—” Daniel seems frantic, eyeing Jaehwan with concern and panic in his eyes. “I’ll help Seongwoo-hyung—”

“I said, don’t worry, man,” Jaehwan slurs out. “’M not gonna say the stuff about that thing… or the white picket fence stuff. Or the dogs. It’s not even about you… it’s something… between me and Seongwoo-hyung. It’s prosanl. Perlanos. Psoneral?”

“Personal?” Seongwoo offers and Jaehwan nods. “Alright.” He takes Jaewhan’s weight from Daniel. “I’ll be right back.”

Daniel watches them with an uneasy gaze as they retreat to the hallway.

“So,” Seongwoo says and makes Jaehwan lean against the wall for support. “What’s this personal thing about—”

Jaehwan shuffles in his pocket and takes out a crumbled letter. “This…I didn’t want to bring it up, when you… and when Daniel… but then I figured you might want it back…”

Seongwoo automatically shivers. “Oh.”

“You _liiiiiiked meeeee_,” Jaehwan laughs as he sing-songs the words, making a kissy face. “You wanted to smooooooch meeee.”

“Fucking dick,” Seongwoo hisses, but he can feel the way his face erupts in flames. “I swear I’m going to shove you off the stairs—”

Jaehwan keeps on cackling as Seongwoo showers him in curses, but eventually calms down enough to raise his hand and put it on Seongwoo’s shoulder, stopping his rage litany.

“I know it means nothing, bruh” Jaehwan slurs out, trying his best not to let his eyelids drop. “I saw how are things with… Daniel.”

Seongwoo stands frozen and stares at Jaehwan. The mood immediately changes and Seongwoo kind of wishes Jaehwan would resume in his singing. He _saw_? How the hell did he –

Only then Seongwoo realizes that he didn’t see _see_ because Jaehwan’s just commenting the acting. Jaehwan’s indirectly complimenting his acting. Seongwoo flushes. God fucking biscuit, Seongwoo needs to get a grip.

But when was Seongwoo acting and when he was himself? Or even better question – did he _stop_ acting? And if he did, when?

Jaehwan continues talking and Seongwoo turns his attention back to him. “And besides… I wouldn’t even act upon it because Daniel’s my best buddy… my man…”

Seongwoo takes the letter out of Jaehwan’s hand. “Can you… keep this to yourself?”

Jaehwan has a problem focusing his eyes, but when he manages to do it, he grins. “Of course. And I won’t even tell Daniel…” Jaehwan leans closer to Seongwoo. Seongwoo can smell the cheap beer and something stronger (and probably more expensive) from his breath when he whispers. “Daniel… he like, _really _likes you. All he ever does is talk about you… what a sad meathead…”

Seongwoo’s heart stops for a second, before he remembers Daniel too is just doing it for the show. Like Seongwoo is – or at least… was? Fuck it, Minhyun and his smart ass. “Um… really?”

Jaehwan looks at him as if were the biggest dumbass. “Yeah. Never seen him act so disgusting before. And he always asks if you laughed at his stupid joke or whatever… I’m sru-srpuri… um… surprised, he hasn’t shared his getting off fantasies with me—”

“_Alright_,” Seongwoo quickly interrupts him, pressing a hand to his mouth. “Let’s get you somewhere where you don’t hurt anybody, including yourself. I’ll call someone to get you home.”

He disposes Jaehwan into the armchair upstairs, throws a blanket over him and stays with him until the taxi driver arrives. Jaehwan is a blabbering mess by the time Seongwoo shoves him into the cab. “Hyung! I really… thanks for the letter,” Jaehwan mumbles, pulling at Seongwoo’s sleeve. “I’m glad you liked the Chandelier cover…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Seongwoo laughs and tells the driver the address he reads from the envelope of his love letter. His fourth letter. “Just get home safe.”

Jaehwan laughs and waves at him, shouting “_and yeah, hyung, cows do have nipples_”, before collapsing in the backseat.

Seongwoo watches the car leave, before he glances back to the letter in his hand. He takes out the paper and starts reading.

Dear Kim Jaehwan,

…wow. Just wow. I’ve never thought I would come to like someone just because of their singing, but it happened. Your cover of _Chandelier _at the school festival got to me. Your voice is beautiful – it just touches people in all the right ways, and one could just _tell_ that music is your life. It was soothing and I was so in need of healing without even knowing I needed healing… your cover helped me heal.

To be honest after your performance, I really wanted to talk to you. What kind of person you are, I was wondering. Who was behind that powerful voice that made me want to get to know them?

It shocked me when we finally _had_ a conversation – something about whether cows have nipples – and I think that I’ve decided that it wouldn’t really work out.

But I still admire you so much – you have a great talent and I hope I’ll get the chance to hear you sing more. I hope even more to find something in me just as special as you’ve found in your voice.

Ong Seongwoo

Long after Jahewan’s gone, his words still linger in Seongwoo’s head.

_I saw how much you like Daniel._

How do people even see such thing? It’s not like in dramas where flower petals start falling out of nowhere and _You Are My Destiny_ starts playing, as the two leads lock eyes in slow motion.

When he gets back to Daniel and others, Daniel welcomes him with a warm smile. It does things to Seongwoo’s head and he doesn’t want it. Daniel stretches out his hand, taking Seongwoo’s fingertips, pulling him onto the couch. “You were gone quite a while, and then I couldn’t find you. Is Jjaeni okay?”

Seongwoo nods. “Yeah, I called him a taxi.”

“Thanks. I better call him later.” Daniel leans into his side, gently putting his head on Seongwoo’s shoulder, rubbing against it like a cat. “Wanna… wanna dance?”

“W-what?” The thought of just dancing with Daniel seems like something suicidal. His heart jumps into his throat and he must take a breath to steady his voice. “Why?”

Daniel snort-laughs. “To… to show people our couple-y moves.” He lifts his head and grins. “Isn’t that what we want?”

Seongwoo lets Daniel to pull him up and lets him lead the way to the dance floor. There’s some music on, something cheesy and most probably about love, but Seongwoo can only feel the blood pumping in his ears and the light tug of Daniel’s hand guiding him through the masses. He hears whispers around him, but he couldn’t care less now. The only thing he cares about is that Daniel is putting his hands on Seongwoo’s lower back and Seongwoo is automatically placing his own on Daniel’s shoulders and then they’re moving to the rhythm.

Daniel gets closer and leans his cheek against the side of Seongwoo’s head. His hair is tickling Seongwoo’s skin and Seongwoo’s breathing speeds up.

“Is this okay?” Daniel whispers. Seongwoo nods, tightening his grip on Daniel’s shoulders. People stare at them and he can’t help but self-consciously lower his gaze, fixing it on the floor.

“Don’t mind them,” Daniel says quietly right next to his ear. His voice is soft and Seongwoo gulps. “Just focus on me.”

The problem is that Seongwoo may be little too hyper-focused on Daniel – he feels Daniel’s fingers tracing his back, his breath on his skin; he feels Daniel’s shoulders tensing up and relaxing – and Seongwoo –

Seongwoo might be a little in love with every bit of him.

Seongwoo isn’t a star athlete, but the speed with which he took off after the dance was over, would leave his PE teacher open-mouthed.

Seongwoo sighs. He’s been in front of the house for a long time now – partly people-watching, because it’s fun, partly hiding from Daniel, because for some reason he can’t really bring himself to face him right now. He hung out with Woojin and Jihoon, slipping away when he saw mop of blond hair, or a hint of broad shoulders; talked (well, tried to talk) with Minki, spent some time with Minhyun and Sungwoon, but eventually chose to go outside to take a breather under a big maple tree out in front of the house.

His hideout is discovered an hour later, because Seongwoo just sucks at hide-and-seek and at life in general.

“There you are,” Daniel says in his low voice. He appears next to him and gently pulls him into a back hug, resting his chin on Seongwoo’s shoulder. Seongwoo stiffens. Daniel’s breathing right into his shoulder and Seongwoo tries to count backwards to one hundred to calm himself down, because otherwise he’s going to fucking explode. Like, is it even necessary to do this, when—

Seongwoo looks around and spots a few classmates loitering a few metres away. Of course. Everything’s a show. Why is Daniel so good at it? Why did he manage to fool Seongwoo into thinking this is real, too?

How in the hell did he make Seongwoo care?

“Yah, hyung. How could you leave me out there?” Daniel grumbles.

Seongwoo takes in a breath before he replies. “Sorry. Guess I got swept away by the crowd.”

“Hey.” Daniel seems to catch on his discomfort because he slowly lets him go. “Is something wrong?”

Seongwoo suddenly wants to cry, because nothing’s wrong and that’s the fucking problem – he just can’t separate work from his feelings and he’s a dumb idiot for thinking he could pull this off like a pro. Seongwoo has always been nothing but a bundle of raw emotions, how could he have even thought that this thing he had with Daniel wouldn’t affect him? At least a little?

Just…what the hell is happening? Why is it so hard to do some PDA with your fake boyfriend?

“No, everything’s fine—”

Suddenly the front door bursts open, and some people come out, holding drinks and singing. Seongwoo feels Daniel tense up – he must have recognized some of them as his _admirers_ – so Seongwoo instinctively grabs Daniel’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Daniel shoots him a grateful smile, squeezing his hand in response.

“C’mon,” Seongwoo whispers, when he sees them looking their way, sees them already frowning. _This is a show_. It’s a game of play and pretend and Seongwoo is just an actor on the big screen. Just an actor. It’s their deal. A contract. They fake-date. But Seongwoo knows that there’s another reason, the worst one there could ever be… he’s greedy. “I…kiss me.”

“W-what?” Daniel hiccups. “Are you drunk?”

Seongwoo almost laughs. If only it were that simple. “No. I had one beer and it tasted like piss. But… we have to make them see _and_ understand. That we’re a real thing. We should do what couples do at parties. And this is a party after all,” Seongwoo says and is already yanking at Daniel’s jacket to bring him closer. “You should party then.”

Daniel’s eyes are dark, when he looks at him and Seongwoo’s breath hitches in his throat. _You’re so beautiful. Inside and out._ He gulps and his mind seems to have a will of its own when he can’t help but stare at Daniel’s mouth.

Daniel lets himself be tugged closer, a paper-thin distance between their bodies, and Seongwoo pulls at the jacket one more time, hearing only his heartbeat and the gentle rustling of the leaves over their heads.

“Seongwoo…”

And Seongwoo wants him to say it again – wants to _see_ his name on Daniel’s lips, wants to hear it over and over again, until it doesn’t sound like his name at all, just a bundle of letters clumsily glued together by Daniel’s breath.

“Seongwoo.” For some reason Daniel’s voice sounds sad. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

Seongwoo frowns in confusion. Daniel is looking down at his mouth too but seems to be completely out of it – his eyes are flickering from Seongwoo’s eyes to his lips, the trademark smile gone, while his Adam’s apple keeps bobbing up and down. There is something in his expression that pisses Seongwoo off. Is it pity? Is that the case? Does Daniel pity him, already suspecting what he had done to Seongwoo’s brain?

_So, don’t fall for me for real_, Daniel told him the day they made the deal. Seongwoo was warned.

He clenches his jaw at the thought, but Daniel is still just staring at him. If Seongwoo didn’t know better, he would say Kang Daniel was nervous. And Seongwoo really needs to kiss him.

They haven’t kissed since the football field – then, Seongwoo wanted to show those psychos that he is in fact dating their idol. But now… Seongwoo fears the reason why he might want to kiss him again. “Niel.”

Daniel snaps out of his weird trance and meets Seongwoo’s gaze. It’s intense as if it’s only now Daniel sees Seongwoo clearly – and Seongwoo realizes it’s the first time he called him that.

_Niel_. “Niel. I’m, um—”

He doesn’t even get to finish the sentence because Daniel cups his face and kisses him.

Seongwoo gasps, but Daniel’s already there catching the gasp with his lips, fingers burning patterns into his skin. Seongwoo’s eyes flutter shut and before he knows it his hands are already in Daniel’s soft hair, threading it slowly with his knuckles and he _melts_, melts because Daniel is touching him everywhere, his mind and his body, and Seongwoo’s head is filled with nothing but him.

“Seongwoo—” Daniel mumbles against his cheek, nuzzling it, and Seongwoo more feels than hears the word, shivers running down his spine, while his heart thumps loudly in his ears.

At some point, Seongwoo finds himself pressed against the trunk of the tree, Daniel kissing his sweet way from the side of his neck to his jawline. He’s driving him crazy and Seongwoo might be high, addicted to the way Daniel holds him, drunk from Daniel’s lips and his touch only. Seongwoo’s own hands are tracing lines, running them from Daniel’s stomach up to his shoulders, and Daniel’s breath hitches in his throat, when Seongwoo’s fingers touch the bare skin. Daniel keeps whispering Seongwoo’s name between the kisses and Seongwoo is breathing out Daniel’s name in replies.

If the first kiss they shared was gentle and the second one powerful, then this one is pure fire – Daniel is tugging him closer by his belt loops one second, the other exploring his back with his hands.

Seongwoo knows that the Daniel fan club must have already left, but he can’t seem to stop or even think about pushing Daniel away. He wants to stay with him like this, feel the press of his lips against his mouth, breathing in the sweet scent and—

Be his fake boyfriend forever.

_Fake_ boyfriend.

Seongwoo gasps and pulls away. Daniel chases after his mouth in confusion, stopping only when he notices Seongwoo started shivering.

“You cold?” Daniel sounds out of breath, but he immediately takes off his leather jacket, throwing it over Seongwoo’s shoulders. “I’m sorry… I didn’t realize we were outside…” he adds sheepishly, his cheeks colouring the loveliest shade of pink.

“No… it’s okay… I just wanted to say… that they’re gone. Your fan club,” Seongwoo mumbles and turns away.

Daniel seems a little bit dazed, before he looks around. “Oh.” He scratches his head and takes a step back, giving Seeongwoo space to breathe. “Yeah… seems like it.”

Seongwoo’s heart is like on a roller coaster, his chest heaving and blood rushing through his veins and he just feels _so_ _weak_ in the knees. Daniel laughs a little, when he notices the way Seongwoo wobbles, and puts an arm around him, steadying him. “Lean on me.”

And Seongwoo does.

Because he’s selfish and because he doesn’t know for how long Daniel wants to keep this fake dating up, so Seongwoo may be planning to selfishly exploit it until he can’t.

“It’s late,” Daniel says quietly. “I’ll take you home.”

Daniel, like the good guest he is, makes a round and says goodbyes to all their friends for both of them and then he guides Seongwoo to his bike. He takes out Seongwoo’s helmet, but doesn’t hand it to him – instead, he brushes hair from Seongwoo’s eyes, gently putting the helmet on and then does the strap. He smiles. “Does it feel okay?”

“Yeah,” Seongwoo says. He’s still a bit dizzy, but Daniel thankfully has enough sense and helps Seongwoo get on, before getting on the bike himself. “Hold on tight… Seongwoo.”

Seongwoo looks up and he sees that Daniel is already looking back at him, soft smile playing on his lips. “Seongwoo, hold onto me.”

Seongwoo slowly nods – he thinks that Kang Daniel must have sold a soul to the devil for that smile, because it does things to Seongwoo’s will. It destroys it to pieces, and it makes him do everything, whatever Daniel would ask. He brings his hands around Daniel’s torso and leans his forehead against his shoulder blade, suddenly exhausted. Both emotionally and physically – he just kind of wants to curl up into a foetal position and die. “Just take me home, you cheesy twat.”

Seongwoo can feel Daniel laughing through his fingertips as it reverberates his body. “Aye, aye.” Daniel pulls down his visor, before he suddenly pauses. Seongwoo closes his eyes.

“What is it?”

“Um, nothing actually,” Daniel replies, his voice muffled through the visor. “It’s just…”

Seongwoo tilts his head. “What?”

“You… you looked really pretty today,” Daniel says and Seongwoo’s glad Daniel can’t see him blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i made the kiss hotter than i wanted to but oh well - it's a party after all *super hot playing in the bcg*
> 
> i spent an eternity looking for the right outfits that fit the mood, you wouldn't believe
> 
> also jisung being a total mum is my aesthetic (little preview for the next chapter: jisung being mum. there.)  
final letter reveal! i loved writing drunk jaehwan. and drunk minki. drunk dumb teenagers are fun to describe. btw, jaehwan and seongwoo's conversation about cow nipples is based on a true event... don't ask
> 
> he called him niel!! breaking point!! another one!! i told you this fic is going to be cheesy af, i'm sorry
> 
> i hope you liked the update! thank you so much for reading and see you next chapter~~


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how we begin and where we end up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter is here!!
> 
> i want to just thank real quick to everyone who is still reading this and just checking in for the updates... thank you thank you. i hope you're still having fun and that this chapter will be enjoyable as well!! we're nearing the finale <33
> 
> (+ jtbc more than friends just started and i'm sosososo excited and just so far love it (i rant abt it a lot on twt so) (obviously) - i will be updating from now on so that the updates wouldn't collide with the broadcast and i'll give you heads up on my twt - i mean, we're all busy with hyping the drama up, right?) 
> 
> as always - enjoy the chapter, and thank you once again for still sticking with me and the fic<3

Jisung was super serious about interrogating Daniel and Seongwoo wished he just… wouldn’t.

“Does Daniel like shrimps?” Jisung asks one day, his feet propped up on the coffee table. “We could make some hot pots.”

“He’s allergic to them,” Seongwoo replies hollowly.

Jisung picks up on his weird mood and straightens up. “What is it?”

Seongwoo sighs. “Nothing.”

“If it’s –”

“It’s nothing, hyung,” Seongwoo sighs again and lies down on the sofa. Jisung watches him for a while and then he only mumbles ‘_teenagers’_, before he gets up and makes his way to the kitchen. However, Seongwoo feels like he can afford to be a whiny teenager now – because he’s a fool, squared.

After Minki’s party, everything went back to normal with Daniel – well as normal as fake dating can get. They still hang out on the roof, still talk about anything and everything, still maintain the basic skin ship of a couple. Still fake date.

But now it leaves Seongwoo sad and empty. Because just looking at Daniel gives him bad digestion or something because his stomach keeps flipping and he feels dizzy, when he’s with him and fuck –

Seongwoo _didn’t ask for this_.

He went into the business with Daniel to get _over_ an unrequited love for fuck’s sake, not to get another one – one that hurts him even more, because it feels way too real.

So, Jisung getting ready and all hyped up about inviting Daniel for a friendly chat and a dinner doesn’t do much to boost Seongwoo’s spirits.

“Is it really that necessary?” Seongwoo mumbles and sighs again. “I mean… we’re not dating for that long… it’s not like we’re…”

Jisung pokes his head back into the living room, looking absolutely outraged. “Of course, it’s necessary! He’s so cute and polite and he’s your first –”

“Fine!” Seongwoo frustratedly jumps from the couch, suddenly mad, but doesn’t even know why anymore. Jisung startles and it makes Seongwoo guilty. “Sorry. Sorry for lashing out… I guess I’m little tired.”

Jisung smiles. “No worries. It wouldn’t be the first time you were behaving like a brat.”

Seongwoo snorts. “Right.”

“Just ask Daniel if Friday’s okay for a dinner. I’m excited to get to know him better.”

Seongwoo nods and then he lies back down on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. _Hyung_. _It’d be better if you didn’t get to know him. You could get too attached. _Seongwoo blinks and closes his eyes. _Don’t make the same mistake—_

He lets out a frustrated growl. Seongwoo’s always been a drama queen, and he thinks that some things never change.

***

The next day, Seongwoo nervously goes down the stairs, feeling like Louis XIV. You know. About to get guillotined.

Daniel is leaning against his bike and he’s so beautiful, morning sunlight dancing in his hair like sparks of gold, his skin glowing, or is it just Seongwoo’s moron-like whipped imagination? Seongwoo huffs a sigh.

He sure didn’t ask for this.

Seongwoo’s got up twenty minutes earlier and styled his hair a little, while pathetically thinking stupid questions – would Daniel like it this way or this way? Would he even notice at this point? Seongwoo is sure a lost case, but the fact he’s actually sacrificed twenty minutes of his god given sleep for his fake boyfriend who doesn’t like him back is another level of sad. The helmet will probably ruin it anyway. Jisung didn’t even comment on it, blaming it on “young love” at which Seongwoo almost laughed in pain.

Now seeing Daniel, gorgeous and just so heart-breaking at the same time, Seongwoo feels all the more pitiful.

“Hey,” Daniel says when he spots him, his mouth already a grin, his gentle eyes meeting Seongwoo’s gaze. He looks him up and down, stopping at his hair, and Seongwoo’s suddenly self-conscious, hesitantly bringing his hand to his forehead.

“Your hair…” Daniel stares at it for a moment, before his look softens, giving Seongwoo a smile – not the usual bright one, but the small one, the one so rare to spot – the smile which makes Seongwoo feel gooey, makes him feel like he’s the only one able to catch it. “You look really nice. Would give a 10.”

“Um.” Seongwoo blushes wild red and he _knows_ he’s blushing wild red. “Thanks. I guess. But I’m like an eleven.”

Daniel laughs then, his eyes crinkling. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Seongwoo takes out a sweet bread from his bag. “Here.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows in surprise. “What is it?”

“Your breakfast,” Seongwoo only says, taking out his helmet from Daniel’s bike, trying to put it on ASAP to hide his burning torch of a face. “You came earlier, so you must have eaten earlier or not at all. Either way, you’ll be hungry.”

“You’re an _angel, _Seongwoo.” Daniel’s face brightens up and he gives Seongwoo a warm look that does dangerous thing to his heart. Seongwoo turns away, burnt.

“Say that _after_ you see the expiration date,” he mutters and gets on the bike. “Let’s go.”

The ride to school is short and even Daniel can see from the way Seongwoo’s been acting that something’s up. He corners him immediately after they arrive, pinning him with a sharp stare, when Seongwoo takes off his helmet.

“Seongwoo. What’s going on? Are you mad at me or something?”

_Yes. _

“No.”

“Cut the bullshit, Ong.”

Seongwoo laughs a little. “Man. How come you make a total 180° change, when you’re angry? You look like a thug.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Daniel says and his face falls. “Did I do something? Is it about… is it about the party? Did something make you uncomfortable?”

Seongwoo’s heart halts for a second before it starts beating ferociously in his throat. “No. What would have?”

Daniel bites his lip, looking away. “Nothing, I guess.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Seongwoo eventually sighs. The fake dating was business from the start and Seongwoo doesn’t have any right to be hurt, so he should at least try to handle this like a sensible boy. “I… um. Jisung-hyung wants to have you over for dinner. On Friday. Are you free?”

***

Friday comes to Seongwoo’s liking way too quickly.

“Ong Seongwoo! Are you spacing out again?”

Seongwoo flinches and looks up from the table just to see their precious newspaper club prez Jung Eunji, frowning at him. “I know it’s too late for you to turn on the thing in your head called brain, but you should at least try _pretending_ you’re here.”

Seongwoo smiles uncertainly. “Sorry?”

Eunji snorts and turns to Daniel. “Will you knock some sense into him, or will you let me do it?”

“Let me do it!” Woojin exclaims and knocks down the made-up tower he built from the empty cans of cola. “Seongwoo-hyung is such a weakling I could take him with one—”

Jihoon cackles and puts his feet on Woojin’s lap. “Sorry, Seongwoo-hyung, but I would bet on Woojin.”

Somi only apologetically looks over at him and Seongwoo isn’t even surprised that no one’s taking his side – Woojin has too much raw power.

“No, no, no,” Daniel laughs and pushes away some of the papers aside to gently take Seongwoo’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers together. “I’ll do it. You people seem too violent. I can’t let that happen.” He then leans over and presses a small kiss to Seongwoo’s cheek. “Wake up, Seongwoo, babe. Frowns don’t suit you.”

Seongwoo blushes and drills holes into Daniel’s hand with his eyes, mumbling curse words under his breath – at this point he doesn’t know if they’re directed at himself or at Daniel. Either way, _he didn’t ask for this_.

Daniel laughs again, hesitating for a moment, before he pecks him again. “You’re driving me crazy, really.”

_That makes us two_, Seongwoo grimly thinks as he tries to catch his breath again. Out loud he only says. “Fuck off, y’all.”

“Seongwoo-hyung, don’t be too prickly,” Daehwi says cheerfully. He sits at the small piano he bought in Japan, a green neon atrocity, but try telling orange haired Daehwi about how extra his preferences are. He plays a simple cheerful piano tune. “Daniel-hyung is right. You get wrinkles.”

“Et tu, Daehwi?”

Daehwi only offers him a sweet smile and Seongwoo flips him off.

Seongwoo brings his arm around Jinyoung who only snickers. “Looking for a word of comfort?”

“Please,” Seongwoo says.

“You have just one, here, between your brows,” Jinyoung retorts flatly and Seongwoo slaps his shoulder.

Daniel laughs and tugs at Seongwoo’s elbow. “C’mon. You look gorgeous, even when frowning.” Daniel smiles his beautiful smile and Seongwoo’s a weak moron.

By the time meeting’s finished though, Daniel’s bright mood tones down out of nowhere until he looks like someone who’s been done great injustice and would gladly jump to his death right here and there – a feeling Seongwoo has grown familiar with, unfortunately.

“Daniel-oppa,” Somi asks him suddenly. “What’s wrong? Is it about the pet corner – Eunji-noona didn’t mean it that way when she said putting pictures of Garfield would be –”

“No, I meant it quite literally,” Eunji deadpans, but then her features soften, like everyone’s when talking to Daniel. “But if it means so much to you, we could instead—”

“No, no,” Daniel sighs, his fingers tightening around Seongwoo’s. “It’s nothing.”

The club members say their byes to one another, eventually dispersing, until there’s only Seongwoo and Daniel left. Now they would usually go together to the city centre to grab some food like they always do on Fridays, but because of their scheduled dinner at Seongwoo’s place with Jisung, they awkwardly linger at the exit, not really used to saying goodbye this early.

“Spill,” Seongwoo sighs. “I know it’s not ‘_nothing’_. What’s up?”

Daniel keeps his head lowered and shifts his weight, not answering.

“Yah. Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo leans over and Daniel flinches. “What’s up with you?”

Daniel scratches his temple, avoiding Seongwoo’s gaze. “It’s really nothing… don’t worry about it.”

“But I am already worried,” Seongwoo huffs exasperatedly. _How can I not be, you meathead?_ “So. Just. You know. Spill it.”

Daniel finally looks up and murmurs something incoherently, but even from those few words Seongwoo almost laughs out loud.

“Wait. You’re nervous because of _the dinner_?”

Good God in heaven, Kang Daniel’s nervous from meeting Seongwoo’s uncle, _the absolutely nicest person on Earth, _Yoon Jisung?

“Of course I am!” Daniel says, frustrated. “I mean – he’s your _uncle_. It’s like meeting your parents…”

Seongwoo chokes on his spit. “Whoa—”

“Don’t say it’s not like that…”

“It’s _really_ not. I mean, you’ve already experienced the worst thing,” Seongwoo says.

“What thing?”

“My friends,” Seongwoo raises his eyebrow. “If you survived that, you’ve survived everything.”

Daniel makes a face. “This is different.”

“No, really. If anything, Jisung-hyung is like my big brother. He will be thrilled to get to know you better. He may be annoyingly nosy but otherwise—”

“So, your parents aren’t home?” Daniel suddenly asks. “I mean, it’s like every time we talk, it seems as if you live just with your uncle.”

Seongwoo shrugs. “I do. Live just with him, I mean.”

“Oh.” Daniel’s expression is a mix of guilt, worry and curiosity and Seongwoo kind of knows what comes next. “If it isn’t… well… how come?”

Seongwoo glances at him, before leaning against the door of their club room. Daniel follows his example and rests his back on the wall next to him.

“Sorry. I don’t want to pry or anything—”

“No, you’re not,” Seongwoo laughs. “Of course not. It’s really nothing.”

“I mean you don’t have to—”

“My mum died when I was four,” Seongwoo interrupts him and Daniel raises his head at the words. “Jisung-hyung is her younger brother. I… I spent most of my childhood with him, because my dad was working abroad a lot.” Seongwoo fiddles with his fingers. “My dad’s in Australia now so Jisung-hyung is taking care of me.”

Seongwoo expects the usual – some words of comfort because of his mother, some words of disbelief about his father, some words about Jisung-hyung being a real sport to take him in. He expects them – and he’s ready to accept them even though it’s almost like an automatic hi to a hello without any feeling of sense to the words, because it’s just a basic reaction to Seongwoo’s family situation; however at the same time Seongwoo is ready to defend his dad, because no one would actually know how much his father has given up to assure Seongwoo could live like he does now.

So it surprises him, when the only thing Daniel asks is: “Isn’t it hard? I mean… you must miss him, your dad?”

The question catches him unprepared and Seongwoo tilts his head back to gain some time to recollect himself. “I… um, of course.”

Daniel cocks his head. “You don’t seem sure.”

“What? No, I just…” Seongwoo shakes his head in confusion. “I… it’s just… I haven’t seen him in a long time. I guess I—” Seongwoo bites his lip and turns away. “I don’t know. I feel a little bit guilty that I… that I don’t miss him as much as I should, I guess.”

Daniel only nods. There’s silence before Daniel continues, his voice gentle. “Try not to be. It’s okay – it doesn’t mean you like him any less. It’s just… the distance. And your dad wouldn’t want you to be sad anyway.”

Seongwoo stares at Daniel, feeling something in him slowly untangling.

Daniel looks at him warmly and continues, his next words almost like balm. “It’s okay. Don’t think you’re a bad person for feeling that way.”

Seongwoo stays silent, but he feels a urge to hug him, just like that, out of nowhere – because strangely, he feels slightly at ease. As if Daniel’s understanding comforted a part of him that felt so angry at his own self for not being sad enough.

But he doesn’t hug him, of course. Instead, he keeps his gaze steadily on Daniel’s face, tracing the line of his jaw and the slope of his nose with his eyes. “What about you?” Seongwoo asks, suddenly greedy – he never experienced this kind of greed, this sudden need to know about a person everything there is to know; or at least the parts Daniel is willing to share. “What’s your family like?”

Daniel laughs a little, tilting his head to see Seongwoo better. “Well, you’ve met Guanlinie. And… my parents are divorced. I live only with my mum and Guanlin.”

“Divorced?” Seongwoo straightens up abruptly. He suddenly feels horrible. “I can’t believe I didn’t know…”

Daniel grins and shakes his head. “I never mentioned it. There was no way for you to know that.”

“But I’ve never asked,” Seongwoo mumbles. He remembers the twenty questions. He _could have_ asked. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for, Seongwoo? There’s nothing,” Daniel replies and finds his hand, squeezing it lightly, before letting go. “I can tell you now.”

“But still—”

“I’ve never asked you about your uncle either. And it makes me feel bad too – when I know what colour of gummy bears you eat first, but don’t even know what’s your uncle like.”

Seongwoo huffs a laugh. “Really?”

“The yellow ones.” Daniel shrugs. “I don’t blame you. There’s always so many of them.”

Seongwoo snorts, because he’s right – and Seongwoo realizes that he knows the same stuff when it comes to Daniel too. Stuff he didn’t want to know, stuff that came naturally to him, stuff he inevitably learnt. From all their talks on the roof and between classes, small talks in the morning getting ready for school, after school, at lunches… things he picked up just from spending time with Daniel, like the way he scratches his left ear or cheek when he’s unsure about something, the way he claps his hands like that monkey with cymbals when something exciting happens, how he has a habit of tapping his fingers against his knees.

All those unimportant details – but so important to know about Daniel at the same time.

They talk some more; Daniel about his parents and Guanlin, Seongwoo about Jisung and his dad. Then Daniel talks about his mum and Seongwoo sees the way his eyes light up and he knows how much she must mean to him. Daniel doesn't mention his dad, but he asks Seongwoo about his mum and Seongwoo tells him what he remembers which is not much. Seongwoo tells Daniel about his cousins too and the dog he used to raise. Daniel tells him about a house in Busan his family lived in before the divorce and about moving away and coming here.

And Seongwoo wonders how is it even possible to fall in love with this twat more – because that’s exactly what happens, while they stand there sharing stuff that they would have never told each other before the whole fake-dating started. Seongwoo can’t lie to himself really – he’s glad that the letters got out, because if they had not, Seongwoo would have never got the chance to really know Kang Daniel. And he might have never fallen in love with Kang Daniel for the second time.

“It’s pretty late,” Seongwoo says at some point, glancing at his wrist-watch. “I think if we—”

“_What_?” Daniel’s face suddenly turns super panicky upon realizing they spent the past two hours chatting. “I – fuck, I’ll take you home and then I’ll come – you said at eight, right—”

“To be honest, I think we can go to my place at this point. You can just stay till then because it’s already–”

However, Daniel only tugs at Seongwoo’s arm, forcing him to speed up, so they could get to Daniel’s bike faster. “No! I have to go home first—”

Seongwoo holds up his hands. “Fine, fine, alright—!”

Daniel seems nervous again and Seongwoo puts his hand on Daniel’s arm. “Hey, hey – don’t worry about today too much. Jisung-hyung’s really cool.”

***

“When did you tell Daniel to come?” Jisung asks and prepares glasses on the table, pouring coke. “It’s eight fifteen…”

“I, um…eight twenty…” Seongwoo mumbles. He glances at his phone, where apologetic _im so sorry!!!!!!! gonna be late :(((( _blinks back at him.

“Ah. I thought eight o’clock,” Jisung sighs. “I should have made the noodles later. They might go soggy this way…”

Seongwoo grips his phone tighter. He knew Daniel was nervous, but being late today of all days, won’t really ease up his mind now, will it.

Suddenly there’s a buzz at the door and Seongwoo springs up from the couch. “Must be Daniel—”

Seongwoo makes his way down to the building door, two stairs at a time, and is _so_ ready to give him an earful, because Kang, what the—

Daniel stands right next to the door and Seongwoo opens his mouth to call out his name (in a very angry manner); but all the curse words Seongwoo has prepared get stuck in his throat, when Daniel turns around to face him.

_Kang, what the hell._

Because Daniel –

Daniel looks hella _fine_.

He’s only wearing a simple white button up and black jeans, but it seems like he just stepped out of GQ Korea; his hair is styled up so it reveals his forehead in all its glory and Seongwoo's not really sure, but he thinks he can smell a faint whiff of cologne; however, what makes Seongwoo internally laugh out loud and die simultaneously are the things Daniel’s clutching – because to top it all, Daniel's brought a bottle of wine and a small bouquet of blue flowers. Forget-me-nots.

“Hey,” Daniel breathes out. "I'm so sorry I'm late, the bus was tardy—”

“You took _a_ _bus_?" Seongwoo asks although that's like the last thing that interests him. Seongwoo bites his lip and points to Daniel in general. Is this why he was desperate to stop by his house first before coming to Seongwoo’s? To _groom_ himself? “Dude, what's all... this?”

Daniel blushes and Seongwoo's heart skips a beat.

“I couldn’t take my bike, because the helmet would mess up my hair,” Daniel explains. “And well... I... I wanted to look... presentable,” Daniel continues, mumbling. “And if I'm the first guy you brought home...well...”

Seongwoo almost forgot that, yeah, that's right. Daniel is a fake boyfriend trying to impress his uncle. Right. Seongwoo will now kindly remove his clown make-up and try to move on with his life.

“Oh. Okay,” Seongwoo sighs and beckons him in. “You look… nice, by the way.” That makes Daniel blush harder and Seongwoo sighs again.

“These are for you,” Daniel says, his voice low as he offers Seongwoo the bouquet. “I hope you like them.”

Seongwoo carefully takes the flowers, embarrassed, feeling full and empty, his heart beating and breaking at the same time. “Thanks. But you shouldn’t have.” Daniel gives him a small smile, before they both head in.

Jisung is a really good host. He accepts Daniel’s apologies with a wave of a hand and a _don’t worry_, ushering both to the set table, while complimenting Daniel on his looks and thanking him for the wine. Seongwoo puts the flowers in a vase, staring at them for a few seconds, before he follows Daniel to the table.

“You must be hungry,” Jisung says and sits down as well. “Eat up, eat up.”

The atmosphere is light, Jisung at first only asking Daniel stuff about school, but the more they talk Seongwoo catches on the way they slowly go from the small talk to just _chatting_ like old friends – Daniel almost dying of laughter from all Jisung’s jokes and Jisung cackling at Daniel’s funny stories. Soon it doesn’t even feel that this is the first time his uncle and Daniel properly talked; both comfortable with each other, talking as they eat and drink.

“Daniel,” Jisung starts, once they finish their dinner and are eating some rice cakes for dessert. “Do you even remember your days in the football club back in middle school? I was a good coach, wasn’t I?”

“Hyung,” Seongwoo sighs. “Stop cornering him—”

“You were,” Daniel says and reaches out for a rice cake. “You were always nice to me and always said I was part of the team, although I never played.”

Jisung shoots a very important look Seongwoo’s way, while Seongwoo only rolls his eyes.

“You remember how Seongwoo sucked at football too, right?” Jisung pokes and Seongwoo snorts.

“I do actually,” Daniel laughs. “But to be honest I think that without him I wouldn’t have picked up football in my freshman year.”

Seongwoo freezes. What?

Jisung seems surprised too. “That’s weird. He surely couldn’t have awed you with his amazing football skills… because, you know. He had none.”

Daniel chuckles. “Yeah. But might have been because of that.” Daniel pauses for a while before he continues. “I wasn’t… confident enough to play. I never was. I ran funny and played badly and I couldn’t stand the thought of kids making fun of me. But then I met Seongwoo in the club and I saw him play despite him not being good or people laughing at him. Despite all that he kept playing. It made me realize… that the only one who’s holding me back from playing is myself. That it didn’t matter if I think I can’t – because if I want to, I can.”

There’s a beat of silence and Seongwoo’s chest starts throbbing. Just the thought that in a way he could have indirect influence on someone’s life like that – and not on anyone’s life, _Daniel’s_ life, makes him nauseous.

Seongwoo thinks of all his letters and the way each person gave him something – never in the world he would have thought he could… that he could have an impact on someone too. He looks at Daniel, wanting to know what he’s thinking, but Daniel keeps his gaze on his glass.

“That’s so sweet,” Jisung eventually coos. “Seongwoo, can you believe that your lame ass at football helped Daniel a little to rise up to his football cap rep?”

Seongwoo inhales. He hasn’t even noticed he’s stopped breathing for a moment. “No.”

“To be fair though, Seongwoo played only because of his dad,” Jisung says and takes a gulp from his glass. “His dad used to play football a lot, so Seongwoo wanted to take it up too.”

At this Daniel raises his head in surprise. “Really?” He glances at Seongwoo. “That’s why you were a member?”

Seongwoo lowers his head, glaring at his uncle. “Yeah. Spending time together… was a bit difficult with my dad working and all. So, when he _was_ free, I wanted to do something he really enjoyed.”

Daniel’s eyes are gentle when he says. “I see. It must have been fun playing with your dad.”

Jisung nods at that. “For those who watched, certainly—”

“Yah, hyung,” Seongwoo pouts.

“He knows nothing about football now though,” Jisung continues, ignoring Seongwoo’s scowl. “His dad found out after the football club shut down that Seongwoo’s been learning all the football trivia, just so they could talk about it…” Jisung chuckles. “Fortunately, he stopped Seongwoo from doing all that again, because unlike Seongwoo, he isn’t a twat.”

Seongwoo flushes. It’s this exact topic he’s been trying to avoid talking about. A sob story of why he _really_ was a member back then – how desperate must it sound? Little boy not having anything in common with his dad, so he had to literally _pretend_ having the same interest, so they could actually spend some quality time together?

“You must be really close to your dad,” Daniel says and Seongwoo lifts his head. Daniel’s not really looking at him – he’s fidgeting with his thumbs, his eyes glued to the movement. “I mean…for you to go to these lengths. You must be really close.”

And it’s then Seongwoo remembers that Daniel’s parents are divorced. Seongwoo’s hand has a mind of its own when he automatically reaches for Daniel’s fumbling ones and gently slips his fingers between Daniel’s. “Yeah. Thanks.”

Seongwoo doesn’t even know what he’s thanking him for. He just knows that he’s thankful. Daniel meets his gaze and Seongwoo smiles. “Thanks.”

“Aww! Cute,” Jisung says and Seongwoo flinches and sees Daniel do the same. They let go of each other’s hands almost immediately. God, Seongwoo, a rookie mistake, you just _don’t_ do this shit in front of adults, because they are going to make the mood embarrassing in a second (which Seongwoo believes he can do all too well on his own already, thank you very much). He completely forgot about his uncle and now he feels really _really_ awkward. God.

Jisung laughs at their unease and turns to Daniel again. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to ask this – tell me, how long have you been riding your bike?”

“Um… over a year I think?” Daniel answers, clearly trying to re-focus on Jisung again. “I got my license the moment I turned sixteen.”

“Then I’m relieved,” Jisung sighs in relief. “I was worried a fresh out of school noob was driving my precious nephew around.”

Seongwoo laughs. “I think Daniel knows the roads even better than you, hyung.”

“Hey,” Jisung snorts. “Remember this when you want me to drive you somewhere.”

“Hyuuuung.”

“Don’t worry, Seongwoo,” Daniel smiles at him. “You won’t need Jisung-hyung. I’ll drive you.”

Seongwoo flushes and Jisung laughs. “Woah. Kang Daniel, you’re _smooth_.”

Daniel only shrugs, grinning, as he sips his cola.

“So…” Jisung has a playful grin when he looks over to Seongwoo. “You two on first name basis already, huh?”

Seongwoo sprays his coke all over Jisung in surprise.

“I – um – sorry, hyung – I just –”

Jisung makes an _ew_ sound and wipes his face with the back of his hand. “Oi. Ong Seongwoo. The only thing I still tolerate coming out of your mouth are words and even those I’d gladly limit.”

He stands up. “I’m just going to change into something that hasn’t Seongwoo’s spit on.”

“Um, actually, I think I should head home,” Daniel says and gets up from his seat. “It’s quite late and I don’t want my mum to worry.”

“Oh, of course,” Jisung replies and Seongwoo hears he sounds a little dejected at Daniel leaving. Like wow, he just _met_ him. But it seems it’s Daniel’s charm – bewitching people with his presence only, pulling people in by his natural magnetism. “I’ll give you some of the cakes to bring home –” Jisung disappears in the bathroom, leaving Seongwoo and Daniel alone.

“Did you mean it?” Seongwoo can’t help but ask, standing up too. “About the football club?”

Daniel raises his gaze from the ground. “Yeah.”

Seongwoo gulps but doesn’t really know what else to say – before his lame brain can come up with something at least remotely intelligent, Daniel speaks again. “I said it before, Seongwoo. You’re kind enough to make people around you feel comfortable on your own behalf – and those years in the club helped me get out there and _do_ something. Watching you… I thought that if someone were this confident to do something, they weren’t good at – like _at all_—”

“Thanks,” Seongwoo mumbles.

“—then I could give it a shot because otherwise I would never find out if I were good. You gave me the push.”

Seongwoo glances at Daniel’s face. “I never knew.”

“It wasn’t just in the club. I think you don’t even know how many times people felt at ease thanks to you just being there, doing weird shit. They feel like they can do weird shit too and be brave about them too.” Daniel laughs, his eyes darting all over the room, suddenly looking a bit nervous. “You… you give people that kind of push all the time.”

Seongwoo swallows and takes a step toward him. Daniel watches him with those dark eyes and Seongwoo notices the way his fists are clenched. “Niel, um—”

It’s that moment Jisung bursts from the bathroom, wearing a different sweatshirt, waving his arms around. “Oh my God, you were right, Daniel-ah, it’s late – your mum’s going to kill me –”

Daniel flinches, scratching his ear. “Oh, right… I should go. Oh, Jisung-hyung – it was really nice meeting you. I really enjoyed it… thank you so much for having me and for the dinner – and don’t worry, buses are still running –”

Jisung looks at him as if he were crazy. “Buses? I’m giving you a lift, of course. Why do you think I was sipping that cola like a pubescent the whole evening when you’ve brought me the fine wine?”

“Oh,” is the only thing Daniel says.

“I’ll go down first to throw away – um, to _clean up_ a little in the car,” Jisung says, his face slightly reddening. “Seongwoo, _don’t_ comment on it,” he adds when he sees Seongwoo open his mouth, disappearing through the apartment door.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Nah, you’re good,” Seongwoo says, shaking his head. “Sorry about that. It’s just that Jisung-hyung’s car is a dump.”

Daniel nods. He’s so beautiful and Seongwoo’s heart does a wild break-dance at the sight of him. _I can’t do this anymore. _Seongwoo turns to Daniel again, his brain burning to a crisp. “I’m kind of tired from this whole week… I think tomorrow I won’t go with you to the cat café.”

Daniel only looks at him.

“Um.” Seongwoo wets his lip. “So… see you at school?”

“Yeah,” Daniel says, not really moving.

Seongwoo stares a little at Daniel’s forehead, before snapping his attention to the matter at hand. “So. Um. I’ll… I’ll walk you out—”

“No, stay inside. There’s no need,” Daniel interrupts him with a small smile. He hesitates, before he slowly walks over to Seongwoo, brushing Seongwoo’s fringe aside with his fingers.

“Good night, Seongwoo,” he whispers and quickly presses a light kiss to his cheek.

Seongwoo stiffens.

Daniel takes a step back. He gives him one last smile, but Seongwoo sees the force behind it, sees it’s not honest. And then he leaves.

Seongwoo blinks and stares at the closed door.

He didn’t have to do it. But he did. Is this all just a game to him? Doing that out of nowhere without any explanation whatsoever. Nobody was here. _Nobody_. Seongwoo wants to be mad but he stands frozen, while his insides squeeze and turn and he feels his heart jump into frantic leaps, beating ferociously behind his ribcage, threatening to burst out. He feels shivers, feels cold and hot at the same time and the worst is that he isn’t mad – he’s scared.

Because he finally realizes that he might have to write another letter to Daniel and Seongwoo isn’t sure if he can take it.

When Jisung eventually comes back home, he finds Seongwoo staring at turned off telly.

“You know,” Jisung says. “This thing,” he points to the remote control, “can make the big black box work.”

“Hyung…” Seongwoo sighs. “I’m not really in the –”

“By the way,” Jisung plops down on the sofa right next to Seongwoo and grins. “He passed.”

Seongwoo frowns. “What?”

“Your boyfriend. Daniel passed the test. You can date him. Hell, marry him. I approve of him wholeheartedly.”

“Oh.” Seongwoo blinks because no, if he’s going to cry, he’s going to cry in his room, where only his Astro and anime posters can witness his poor loss of dignity. “…Great. Do you like him?”

“I love him,” Jisung says. “But more importantly, _you_ like him, and he really likes you.”

Jisung knows nothing and Seongwoo keeps blinking. Because even after today, after everything that has happened, after the kiss at the party, the dinner, the peck just now, Seongwoo knows something his uncle doesn’t: it’s fake. Because Daniel, the twat with his own damn fanclub, the thick-headed jock, _the icon_ Kang Daniel… gorgeous and amazingly kind and sweet Daniel, could never fancy someone like… like _Seongwoo_.

Jisung knows nothing and Seongwoo knows everything and that hurts.

“That kid cares about you a lot,” his uncle smiles softly, and Seongwoo wants to break something.

“Does he now,” Seongwoo replies flatly.

“He _really_ does,” Jisung laughs under his breath and Seongwoo’s heart cracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :((
> 
> i know there was an opportunity to make some real intense drama between seongwoo's dad and him, but to be honest i didn't want to do that - sometimes relationships are strained and tangled and there are no villains. daniel's parents are divorced and highlighting the contrast between the (subtly implied. i guess.) bad relationship daniel has with his dad and seongwoo's situation was very sad for me to write
> 
> daehwi has orange hair. teachers are not out to get him for that. idk why. they just aren't.
> 
> and also, yes, daniel totally looked up EXACTLY WHICH flowers he should get seongwoo, googling 'what should you wear to meet your bf's parents for the first time so you would be approved'
> 
> guys!! we're almost at the end, i can't believe it. two chapters to go  
thank you for (still) reading! you're a trooper


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